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THE 


GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE 

OF THE STATE OF 


GEO EG IA 


BY 

JOHN H. T. McPherson, ph. d. 

Professou op History and Political Science in the University 
OF Georgia 


REVISED EDITION 



NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA 

Hinds, Noble & Eldredge 





LIBRARY af CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 

MAR U 





Copyright, 1896 
By ELDREDGE & BRO. 
Copyright, 1908 

By hinds, noble & ELDREDGE 


WESTCOTT & THOMSON, 
ELECTROTYPERS, PHILADA. 



PEEFACE 


The training of useful and intelligent citizens is the 
first object of public education. As a part of this train¬ 
ing it is most desirable that the study of Civins be made 
a branch of tlie curriculum of our schools. 'Phe pupil 
should especially be lead to observe and understand the 
forms of local government surrounding him, and the in¬ 
stitutions of bis State, and should be early impressed with 
a knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of citizen¬ 
ship. 

To aid the teacher in attaining these objects the text 
now offered has been prepared. A comparatively full his¬ 
torical chapter will serve as an introduction to the history 
of Georgia. The details of central and local government 
are then clearly unfolded. Elections and party organiza¬ 
tion, our system of public education, and the general fea¬ 
tures of the State’s finances are explained in the concluding 
chapters. The State Constitution is given at length, that 
the pupil may become familiar with it by frequent direct 
reference. An appendix adds statistical information which 
may prove of interest. 

The author will welcome any suggestions from teachers 
or others that may enable him to improve the book or to 
extend its usefulness. 

J. H. T. McPherson-. 

University of Georgia, 

Athens, Ga, 


PEEFACE TO THE EEYISED EDITION 


In the present edition the text has been thorouglily re¬ 
vised to date, and in many parts rewritten. A'arious sug¬ 
gestions from teachers wlio have used the book in class¬ 
room instruction liave been adopted. The Constitution 
has been carefully worked over, and all amendments since 
the Code of 1895 incorporated, with statutory changes 
noted. A modern map of Georgia, with the new coun¬ 
ties, and a map showing the (Congressional Districts, have 
been added. It is believed that in its present form the 
book contains a wealth of accurate information that should 
make it a valuable manual for the citizen as well as a 
thorough text-book for the schools. 

The author wishes to acknowledge his obligation to Pro¬ 
fessor E. P. Brooks of the chair of Georgia History and 
Sociology in the University of Georgia, for valuable as¬ 
sistance in preparing this revision. 

J. H. T. McPherson. 

University of Georgia, 

January, 1908. 



CONTENTS 


PART I 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Civic History of Georgia.7 

II. The Constitution of Georgia. 51 

Prominent Events in the History of Georgia 56 

' PART 11 

HI. The State Government.60 

IV. The County and the Militia District ... 92 

V. Municspal Government.99 

VI. Elections.105 

VH. Public Education. Ill 

VHI. The Courts and Legal Procedure.122 

IX. State Finances.130 


Constitution of the State of Georgia .137 

Appendix .184 

Index .190 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

James Edward Oglethorpe.7 

Map of Georgia from 1713 to 1802 23 

Governor John Milledfe.27 

Governor George M Troup.31 

Governor George W. Crawford.35 

Howell Cobb.35 

Robert Toombs.•.'35 

Alexander H. Stephens.36 

Governor Joseph E. Brown.37 

Benjamin H. Hill.39 

Governor Alfred H. Colquit.44 

Charles F. Crisp.46 

Hoke Smith .47 

The Great Seal of the State of Georgia .... 60 
The Capitol at Atlanta.63 

























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James Edward Oglethorpe. 


GEORGIA 

PART I 


CHAPTER I 

THE CIVIC HISTORY OF GEORGIA 

1 . Georgia occupies the southernmost reaches of the 
Appalachian slope. The great chain of mountains loses 
itself in the northwestern portion of the State, whence the 
land slopes gently down to the Atlantic ocean and Gulf of 
Mexico. The extreme length of the State is about three 
hundred and twenty miles; its extreme breadth is two 
hundred and fifty-four miles. This great extent of terri- 

7 


8 


TEE CIVIL GOVER^ME^T OF GEORGIA 


tory—59,475 square miles—exceeding the combined area 
of Xew York, Massachusetts and Ehode Island, gives 
promise of an immense development of wealth and re¬ 
source. The soil is extremely fertile; the rainfall abun¬ 
dant; the climate and elevation so varied that all crops, 
from wheat, corn, oats and rye to cotton, rice and sugar¬ 
cane, can be produced in abundance. Fruits flourish in 
all parts of the State. The cultivation of the peach and 
the grape for export is assuming large proportions. Nu¬ 
merous rivers, some of which are navigable for hundreds 
of miles, afford means of transport and enormous water- 
I)ower. Granite and marble quarries abound, and rich 
mineral wealth, hitherto almost untouched, awaits devel¬ 
opment in the hills and mountains of the north. 

Magnificent as is this natural endowment, it is only be¬ 
ginning to be utilized. The organization of society before 
the war was based solely ujmn agriculture; its peculiar 
character and institutions discouraged immigration, and 
the sparse population left the bulk of the land unculti¬ 
vated. The terrible reverses of the Civil War were fol¬ 
lowed by a period of recuperation from which the people 
have scarcely emerged. AYith all the progress made of 
late, the white population to-day is less than a million and 
a quarter, and only a fifth of the land is under cultivation. 
The last few years seem to mark the beginning of a period 
of new and active material development. The Commom 
wealth, recovered from the shackles and misfortunes of the 
past, has awakened to the consciousness of its power and its 
destiny. Population is advancing with rapid strides; a 
tide of immigration has set in from the northern and west¬ 
ern States; domestic capital is rapidly increasing; foreign 
invested capital has more than doubled witliin five years; 
cotton mills and manufactories of various kinds are spring¬ 
ing up on every side; a rapidly advancing system of pub- 


THE CIVIL HISTORY OF GEORGIA 


9 


lie education is banishing illiteracy and ignorance; every 
sign of the times warrants the belief that Georgia is soon 
to enter upon the full enjoyment of her rich inheritance, 
and take her place among the most powerful and opulent 
States of the Union. 

We are to trace briefly the main points in the history 
of this great Commonwealth, before considering the insti¬ 
tutions upon whose faithful and patriotic administration 
her prosperity must depend. 

2. Pre-Colonial Period. —The aboriginal inhabitants of 
Georgia belonged to the lax confederacies of the Cherokee 
and Creek Indians, with the Seminoles on the southern 
border. They were of milder character and more ad¬ 
vanced social development than the savage Indians of the 
North. The companions of Jean Eibaut, the Huguenot 
explorer, were delighted with their reception by the na¬ 
tives, and describe tliem as of a goodly stature, mightie, 
and as well shapen and proportioned of body as any peo¬ 
ple in ye world; very gentle, courteous, and of a good na¬ 
ture.” 

De Soto and his Spanish adventurers in 1539 were prob¬ 
ably the first Europeans to traverse the region. Eibaut in 
1562 made a longer stay. He named the whole country 
Carolina after the boy-king Charles IX. of France, and 
founded a short-lived settlement at Port Eoyal. Laudon- 
niere in 1564 visited Eibaut’s deserted fort, and passing 
southward planted a colony on the St. John’s river. The 
Spaniards under Melendez, however, destroyed this in 
1565, and established St. Augustine, long the stronghold 
of Spanish power in Florida. 

Thus no permanent settlement was made in the territory 
afterward known as Georgia. The English claimed it un¬ 
der the discovery of Cabot, and in 1630 it was granted by 
Charles I. to Sir Eobert Heath. Nothing came of this, 


10 


THE CIVIL COVERSMEls^T OF GEORGIA 


and Charles 11. made two grants of the same territory to 
the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, who later, in 1717, 
transferred the lands lying between the Savannah and Al- 
tamaha rivers to Sir Robert Montgomery. His most stren¬ 
uous efforts failed to induce immigration, and his grant 
expired in three years. The territory was finally sur¬ 
rendered to the Crown by all the Lords Proprietors but 
one. Lord Carteret, who in 1732 conveyed his eighth in¬ 
terest to the “Trustees for Establishing the Colony of 
Georgia in America.’’ 

3. Oglethorpe.—The conception and successful execu¬ 
tion of the idea which led to the foundation of Georgia is 
to be crecfited almost solely to James Edward Oglethorpe. 
He was a remarkable man with a remarkable career. “ A 
more extraordinary person,” Burke said of him, “ than any 
I have ever read of.” Hr. Samuel Johnson, a friend of his 
old age, declared that he knew of no one whose life would 
be more interesting. John Wesley “blessed God that ever 
he was born.” Hannah More describes him in his ninety- 
fifth year as “ the most remarkable man of his time 
* * * the finest figure you ever saw. His literature is 

great, his knowledge of the world extensive, and his facul¬ 
ties as bright as ever. He is (piite a chevalier—heroic, ro¬ 
mantic, and full of old gallantry.” 

Oglethorpe was born of an ancient and distinguished 
family in 1689,^ that critical year in which English liberty 
and Parliamentary supremacy were finally established. 
His father. Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, was a prominent 
general of James II. On leaving Oxford University he 
became an ensign in the army, and in 1713 aid-de-camp 
of the Earl of Peterborough, in Italy. After further pro¬ 
motion he became, through the influence of Argyle and 


1 There is some doubt as to the year of his birth. 



THE CIVIL HISTORY OF GEORGIA 


11 


Marlborough, aid-de-cainp of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the 
central military figure of the age. In this brilliant school 
he learned the art of war, serving through many cam¬ 
paigns and in numerous battles, including the famous siege 
and capture of Belgrade. On the conclusion of peace he 
returned to England with wide renown for courage and 
military prowess. His father and two elder brothers hav¬ 
ing died, he was elected to Parliament in 1722 from the 
borough of Hazlemere, which they had long represented. 
For thirty-two years he held this seat, acquiring renewed 
reputation for humanity, philanthropy, and that “ strong 
benevolence of soul ” which Pope has immortalized. 

Of his many benevolent enterprises none were fraught 
with results so important and far-reaching as his efforts in 
behalf of the victims of the English law of debt. At that 
time the severity of the criminal law was extreme. Over 
two hundred offences were punishable by death. Incon¬ 
ceivable hardship and injustice resulted from the power 
given the creditor to imprison his debtor until the debt 
should be paid. Special debtors’ prisons were over-crowded 
with the often honest victims of cruelty, malice and in¬ 
trigue. The prisoners were left to their own resources for 
food and clothing. Many literally starved to death. Iron 
cages opening upon the street were provided, from which 
the starving and wretched inmates might appeal to the 
charity of passers-by. 

A friend of Oglethorpe upon whom this lot had fallen, 
enlisted his sympathies in behalf of the sufferers. He 
succeeded in arousing public sentiment and secured the 
appointment of a Parliamentary commission, with him¬ 
self as chairman, which resulted in the remedy of the 
worst abuses of the system, and the release of multitudes 
from captivity. To enable these to start life afresh in a 
new career, he determined to establish a colony for their 


12 


THE CIVIL GOVERXMEXT OF GEORGIA 


benefit in the New World. Associating with himself a 
number of influential and benevolent men he succeeded 
in obtaining from King George II. a charter, granting the 
lands lying between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers, 
and extending westward from their sources to the South 
Sea. 

4. The Charter was approved June 9, 1732. A body 
of twenty-one Trustees was given ample power for the 
control and administration of the proposed colony, to be 
called Georgia in honor of the king. The project was 
purely disinterested, benevolent and patriotic. The Trus¬ 
tees were explicitly debarred from holding any office of 
profit, or receiving any salary or fees, or acquiring lands in 
the province. No other colony, as Eobert Southey justly 
declared, was ever projected on principles so honorable to 
its founders. A secondary motive expressed in the charter 
was the interposition of a barrier between the other colo¬ 
nies and the hostile Spaniards in Florida. After a period 
of twenty-one years the government of the colony was to 
revert to the Crown. Eeligious liberty was guaranteed to 
all except Eoman Catholics, and the rights and privileges 
of English law were to be extended to the colonists. 

In July the Trustees held their first meeting and ac¬ 
cepted the charter. Steps were taken to arouse interest 
and obtain subscriptions. The Trustees themselves made 
liberal donations, and their efforts met with a generous re¬ 
sponse. Parliament contributed sums which aggregated 
a large amount, and private benefactions flowed in from 
all sides. Among the regulations drawn up for the gov¬ 
ernment of the colonists were a prohibition of the owner¬ 
ship and use of negro slaves, and a law forbidding the in¬ 
troduction of spirituous liquors. Provision was made for 
the cultivation of the mulberry tree and silkworms, as it 


THE CIVIL HISTORY OF QEOROIA 


13 


was hoped that the production of raw silk could be made 
an important industry. 

5. Emigrants were carefully selected from the most 
worthy and promising applicants. The Anne/’ a galley 
of two hundred tons burden, under command of Captain 
John Thomas, was chartered; and on November 17, 1732, 
the little band, about one hundred and thirty persons in 
all, set sail from (Iravesend. Thirty-five families were rep¬ 
resented. Carpenters, mechanics* bricklayers and farmers 
were among the number. Oglethorpe himself had volun¬ 
teered to take charge of the expedition, bearing his own 
expenses, and drawing liberally on his private means in 
aid of the colonists. 

After a long voyage the adventurers reached Charles¬ 
ton, January 13, 1733. They were warmly welcomed by 
Governor Johnson and the Carolinians, and given tempo¬ 
rary quarters at Beaufort, while Oglethorpe, accompanied 
by Colonel William Bull of Charleston, set out to select 
a site for the colony. After careful search the choice of 
the explorers fell upon the Yamacraw Bluff, on the right 
bank of the Savannah river. An agreement was made 
with the Indians occupying the bluff, whose chief, Tomo- 
chichi, was brought to look favorably upon the settlers 
through the friendly offices of Mary Musgrove, the half- 
breed wife of a Carolina trader dwelling in the tribe. The 
colonists left Beaufort in a small sloop and several planta¬ 
tion boats, reaching their destination on Thursday, Febru¬ 
ary 12, 1733. Generous aid was given by the Carolinians, 
whose Assembly voted over £10,000 in currency, while nu¬ 
merous contributions came in from private sources. The 
streets and squares of the new settlement were marked out 
by Oglethorpe and Colonel Bull. The emigrants were soon 
actively at work erecting store-houses and dwellings, and 


14 


THE C1T1L aOVERyME^T OF GEORGIA 


preparing tlie soil for crops. The infant State entered 
hopefully upon its career. 

6. The wisdom and energy of the founder were soon 
displayed in various directions. A conference of all the 
leading Indian chiefs was called through the influence 
of Tomochichi. Oglethorpe succeeded in winning their 
favor and friendship, and secured an important treaty 
ceding the lands lying between the Savannah and Alta- 
maha as far inland as the head of tide-water. Danger 
from the Indians was thus early averted. Explorations 
were made, and forts and outlying settlements posted as a 
precaution against Spanish attack. 

7. The Salzburgers.—Another class of unfortunates 
soon found refuge within the sheltering arms of the col¬ 
ony. The protestant dwellers of Salzburg, whose ancestors 
had been driven by persecution from Savoy before the 
Reformation, found themselves in 1729 exposed to re¬ 
newed attack. Leopold, Archbishop of Salzburg, in de¬ 
termined effoi-ts to force them within the pale of the 
Roman church, drove thousands forth as homeless wan¬ 
derers. 41ie Trustees offered them a refuge in Georgia. 
In March, 1734, the Purishurg,” with forty-two families 
who had accepted the invitation, arrived at Savannah. 
Some thirty miles up the valley they established a new 
settlement which they called Ebenezer—the stone of 
help.” Later accessions increased the number of the Salz¬ 
burgers, whose intelligence and industry contributed much 
to the upbuilding of the colony. 

8. The Highlanders.—In 1734 Oglethorpe visited Eng¬ 
land, taking with him Tomochichi and other prominent 
chiefs. His efforts gave a new impulse to emigration, 
and bands of Swiss, Moravians from Germany, and picked 
emigrants from England were sent over. To increase the 
military strength of the colony against the Spaniards, 


THE CIVIL HISTORY OF GEORGIA 


U 


Parliament made a new grant of £26,000, wliich enabled 
the Trustees to recruit a regiment of one hundred and ten 
sturdy Highlanders from the region of Inverness. These, 
accompanied by fifty women and children, reached the 
colony in 1735. They settled at the mouth of the Alta- 
maha, calling the district Darien,’’ and the town which 
they built New Inverness.” This proved a most valu¬ 
able accession. The community formed an effective bul¬ 
wark against the Spaniards, and in the conflicts which 
followed, the brave Highlanders rendered valiant service. 
The vigorous, thrifty character of the settlers made their 
community one of the most progressive and prosperous in 
the colony. Their descendants constitute a valuable ele¬ 
ment in the population of the State. 

9. In October, 1735, Oglethorpe returned to Georgia 
with some two hundred and twenty-five picked emigrants, 
and accompanied by John and Charles Wesley. He lost no 
time in putting the colony in a state of defence. A fort 
was established on the Savannah, two hundred and thirty- 
one miles from its mouth, and called Augusta, in honor of 
one of the royal princesses. It soon became a thriving 
trading-post. The coast and islands to the south were 
carefully explored by Oglethorpe in person, and a strong 
fortification established at Frederica on St. Simon’s 
Island. 

Rumors of a Spanish attack now became so ominous 
that Oglethorpe hastened to England for aid, soon return¬ 
ing at the head of a regiment and bearing the commission 
of Commander-in-chief of all His Majesty’s forces in Caro¬ 
lina and Georgia. George Whitefleld, whose eloquence 
later had profound effect throughout the American colo¬ 
nies, accompanied him, succeeding John Wesley as mis¬ 
sionary to the Indians. 

10. War between England and Spain at last broke out 


16 


THE CIVIL aOVEHyMEXT OF GEORGIA 


in 1739. To anticipate an attack Oglethorpe took the of¬ 
fensive and with Indian allies and all the troops at his 
command laid siege to St. Augustine. It was found im¬ 
possible for the fleet to co-operate; reinforcements from 
Havana reached the town; sickness broke out in the 
camp;,and in spite of the most gallant and daring con¬ 
duct the siege had at last to be abandoned. 

In 1742 the Spaniards returned the compliment by a 
concerted attack on Frederica. A heavy assault by land 
and sea was made. The bravery and strategy of Ogle¬ 
thorpe held out against vastly superior numbers, until the 
arrival of an English fleet drove olf tlie enemy. The 
colony had nothing more to suffer from Spanish invasion. 
In 1763 England acquired Florida by treaty. The fortifi¬ 
cations on St. Simon’s were then neglected, and soon fell 
into decay. 

11. In 1743 Oglethorpe went to England to answer 
various complaints and charges made by discontented set¬ 
tlers and officers. He was, of course, more than vindicated. 
The outbreak of the Stuart rebellion called for his services 
as major-general in the royal army. His marriage oc¬ 
curred soon after, and he never returned to Georgia. In 
1775 he was offered, but declined, the general command of 
the British forces in the American war. His illustrious 
and honored old age came to an end June 30, 1785. 

12. After Oglethorpe’s departure the Trustees appointed 
Colonel William Stephens president of the colony. He 
was aided in the administration by four assistants. The 
condition of the province, as a whole, was far from flour¬ 
ishing. Discontent was rife, and complaints were openly 
and constantly brought against the policy of the Trustees. 
The government was entirely in their control, the colonists 
having no voice in the management of affairs. 4’he exclu¬ 
sion of negro slaves was felt to put the settlers at a great 



THE CIVIL HISTORY OF GEORGIA 


17 


disadvantage in competition with the other colonies. The 
restricted tenure of land and the prohibition of spirituous 
liquors made further dissatisfaction; while the mistaken 
judgment of the Trustees in regard to the capabilities of 
climate and soil—their persistent attempts to force the 
cultivation of silk, hemp, flax and similar products, had 
resulted in great waste of labor and resources. Many 
persons were obliged to rely on the stores of the I'rust for 
food and clothing. A formidable Indian uprising headed 
by Mary Musgrove and lier new husband, Bosomworth, 
threatened the destruction of the colony, and was quelled 
with much difficulty and at great expense. 

13. The unpromising condition of affairs at length in¬ 
duced the Trustees to yield several points upon which 
they had previously insisted, ^ffie restrictions on slavery 
and rum were removed in 1749. Two years later, under 
the presidency of Mr. Henry Parker, Stephens having re¬ 
tired upon a pension, the first Provincial Assembly of 
Georgia was instituted, and convened at Savannah. It 
was composed of sixteen delegates, and although the law¬ 
making power was vested by the charter solely in the 
Trustees, it relieved the pressure by affording means of 
discussing and suggesting measures for the common good. 

These various concessions produced a marked change 
for the better. Prosperity returned and the outlook be¬ 
came hopeful. The period of the expiration of the charter 
and termination of the Trust was, however, near at hand; 
and the Trustees, feeling that their policy had failed, de¬ 
termined to surrender the control of the colony to the 
Crown. The transfer was formally concluded June 23, 
1752. The population had reached the number of 2381 
whites with 1066 negro slaves, besides a settlement on the 
Ogeechee of some 500 persons from South Carolina. 

14. As a Crown colony Georgia passed under the direc- 
2—Ga. 


18 


THE CIVIL GOVERXMEXT OF OEOROIA 


tion of the Lords Connnissioners for Trade and Planta¬ 
tions^ who drew up a plan of government similar to that in 
the other royal colonies. The new government went into 
operation in 1754. It is important to note its form and 
character with some care, as it constitutes the basis of 
many features of the later government of the State. 

The governor, appointed by the Crown, was the chief 
executive officer and commander of land and naval forces. 
He formed a constituent part of the General Assembly, 
whose meetings he convened, prorogued and dissolved, 
and whose acts he could approve or veto. He appointed 
all officials except those immediately nominated by the 
king, and had power to pardon Criminals. As a judicial 
officer he wielded the powers of the English chancellor, 
and was the custodian of the Great Seal. He presided in 
a court of errors composed of himself and his Council 
as judges, and determining all appeals from the higher 
courts. As Ordinary he granted probate of wills and letters 
of administration. A lieutenant-governor exercised these 
powers during the absence or disability of the governor. 

The Council was composed of twelve ordinary and two 
extraordinary members, appointed by the Crown during 
pleasure. Besides acting as an executive and advisory 
body as the governor’s privy council, and as a judicial 
body in the court of errors, it formed the upper house of 
the General Assembly. 

The Commons house of Assembly, or representatives, 
was composed of delegates elected by the freeholders. A 
property qualification in land was required of members and 
electors. The house conformed to the precedents of the 
English House of Commons. It chose its own speaker, 
and had the right of originating all bills appropriating 
money. 

A general court consisting of two judges commissioned 


THE CIVIL HISTORY OF OEOROIA 19 

l)y the governor; a court of oyer and terminer, sitting 
twice a year for the trial of all criminal matters; an 
admiralty court; and courts of inferior jurisdiction were 
provided. Collectors of customs, a register of deeds, a sur¬ 
veyor-general, a secretary of the province, a provost-mar¬ 
shal, an attorney-general, and other necessary officers were 
appointed. 

15. The first royal governor was Captain John Rey¬ 
nolds, of the English navy. His administration proved 
unpopular, and in 1757 he was superseded by Henry Ellis, 
a scientist and navigator of some note. The colony was 
now divided into eight parishes for the regular establish¬ 
ment of the English Church. The prudence of Ellis and 
Georgia’s distance from the scene of action saved her from 
the ravages of the French and Indian War. In 1760 the 
lands between the Altamaha and St. Mary’s rivers were 
annexed to the colony by royal proclamation. This was 
confirmed on the cession of Florida to England in the 
treaty of 1763. 

James Wright, the third and last royal governor, was in¬ 
stalled in October, 1760. His administration was prudent 
and vigorous. This, combined with the increased auton¬ 
omy of the colonists, and the direction of agriculture and 
trade into channels better suited to natural conditions, 
brought about a period of great material progress and 
prosperity. The value of exports increased from £30,000 
a year to over £200,000 at the outbreak of the Revolution. 

16. The approach of this crisis found Georgia divided 
in counsel. The strength of the administration and the 
presence of a preponderating number of loyalist or luke¬ 
warm citizens long hampered and restricted the active 
minority of patriots. The Liberty Boys,” indeed, or¬ 
ganized in 1774; expressions of sympathy and various 
supplies were sent to Boston when the Port Act was en- 


20 


Tlin CIVIL GOVERXMEyT OF GEORGIA 


forced. But no Georgia delegate was present at either the 
Stamp Act or the first Continental Congress, and in the 
second Continental Congress Lyman Hall was long the 
only Georgian. He was sent by the independent action 
of St. John’s parish, which thus won for that district the 
title of “ Liberty County.” 

On July 4, 1775, a Provincial Congress in which all the 
parishes were represented chose Archibald Bulloch presi¬ 
dent, and by its activity fairly dominated the colony. A 
‘^Council of Safety” had been created in June and upon 
this the Congress conferred full power during the periods 
of its adjournment. A British powder-ship was seized, 
and Governor Wright was placed under arrest, from which 
he escaped by flight. In January, 1770, delegates were 
chosen to attend the Continental Congress, of whom Ly¬ 
man Hall, Button Gwinnett and George Walton signed the 
Declaration of Independence in behalf of Georgia. When 
the tidings arrived, steps were taken toward a permanent 
organization of government. A constitutional convention 
composed of delegates elected by the parishes was held in 
Savannah in October. By its work the first State Consti¬ 
tution was framed, and formally ratified February 5, 1777. 

17. Scarcely had the new Constitution been adopted 
when the faithful and patriotic President Bulloch died. 
The State could ill afford the loss of his wise services. 
Button Gwinnett was selected by the Council of Safety to 
fill his place, until a governor should be chosen under the 
new Constitution. In May the legislature met and selected 
John Adam Treutlen the first governor of the State. He 
was succeeded in January, 1778, by John Houston, but the 
organization of the State government was soon thrown into 
confusion by the arrival of British forces in the South. 
Savannah was occupied after the defeat of General Howe, 
who attempted its defence. In 1779, Governor Wright 


THE CIVIL HISTORY OF GEORGIA 


21 


resumed his authority in Georgia. The legislature and 
Council fled to Augusta, but became so disorganized, with 
the progress of British arms, that an irregular Executive 
Council, similar to the old Council of Safety, assumed 
control of affairs. John Wereat was made president of 
this council, with power to govern. 

18 . In the fall of 1779 Count D’Estaing with the French 
fleet came to assist the Americans under General Lincoln 
in an attempt to recover Savannah. On October 9, a de¬ 
termined assault was made on the city and sustained with 
much courage. Here Count Pulaski met a soldieFs death 
and Sergeant Jasper displayed the intrepidity wliich has 
made him famous in Kevolutionary annals. The final 
defeat of the Americans left Georgia in a desperate condi¬ 
tion. x4ugusta was taken; supplies and provisions could 
only be had at famine prices; and many in despair were 
yielding to Governor Wright’s inducements to return to 
British allegiance. Augusta was recaptured in 1781, but 
the British hold upon Georgia remained unshaken to the 
end of the war. In July, 1782, the royal troops were at 
last withdrawn. 

With the return of peace, Georgia entered upon a period 
of recuperation. Ih-osperity gradually revived. The cap¬ 
ital was moved to Augusta, and the Constitution was 
tested by actual experience. Georgia had early signed 
the Articles of Confederation, in 1778, and was the fourth 
State to ratify the Federal Constitution, January 2, 1788. 

19 . Up to this point in our sketch of the history of 
Georgia, the narrative has been confined exclusively to 
the colonies planted on the Atlantic seaboard by Ogle¬ 
thorpe and his followers. These first settlements were 
made by immigrants coming directly fi'om Europe. It 
must not be supposed, however, that Georgia has grown up 
entirely from the seaboard nucleus. On the contraiy, the 


22 


THE CIVIL aOVERXMEXT OF CEO KOI A 


greater part of the present population of the State is com¬ 
posed of descendants of colonists who came from a ditfcr- 
ent source. During the decade preceding the Revolution¬ 
ary War, settlers from the older colonies to the north of 
us, Virginia and North Carolina, were beginning to push 
their way westward and southward in search of new lands. 
Tobacco raising was the principal industry of these colonies 
in the days before the invention of the cotton-gin, and as 
the culture of that plant very quickly exhausted the soil, 
the planters were constantly forced to occupy fresh fields. 
In the course of the struggle with Great Britain large 
numbers of Virginians and North Carolinians served on 
the Georgia-South Carolina border about the Savannah 
and Broad rivers, and were favorably impressed with the 
land. While the war was in progress and at its close, 
many families immigrated into this region, the move¬ 
ment being strongest between the years 1183 and 1790. 
These immigrants were a hardy race, as pioneers usually 
are, and in after years exercised a profound influence on 
the history of the State. Among the families which came 
to Georgia at this time from Virginia and North Carolina 
were the Crawfords, the Lewises, the Matthews, the 
Clarkes, and the Gilmers. The Virginians were as a rule 
from the large planter class, and were aristocratic in their 
way of living and thinking; while the North Carolinians 
were principally from the small planter class. The former 
settled in what is now Elbert County, the latter in Wilkes. 
It is thus clear that the Georgia of to-day has grown from 
two nuclei, one on the Atlantic seaboard, planted by im¬ 
migrants from Europe, the other in northeast Georgia 
about the Broad river, the result of a southward move¬ 
ment from the older colonies. These two areas of settle¬ 
ment formed separate and distinct communities, cut off 
from each other by a broad belt of land extending from the 



2o 


Map of Georgia from 1783 to 1802 , 


























24 


THE CIVIL COVERS MEM' OF CEORCIA 


Savannah lUver westward to the Indian country. A semi¬ 
frontier was thus interposed between the two centres of 
immigration. This intermediate country was very slow 
in filling up, as it was believed to be sterile, the Cracker 
element alone finding homes there. 

20. The invention of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney in 
1793 had important results in the development of Georgia 
and of the South. A series of inventions in the manufac¬ 
ture of cotton—Hargreave’s spinning-jenny, Crompton’s 
mule, Arkwright’s water-frame, Cartwright’s power loom, 
and others—had created a great demand for the raw mate¬ 
rial. The separation of the seed from the cotton by hand 
was a tedious and costly process; not a pound was exported 
in 1790. The year after Whitney’s invention one and a 
half million pounds were sent abroad. The raising of 
cotton at once sprang into great importance. The political 
effects were equally marked. The value of slaves, who 
were needed to cultivate the cotton crops, was greatly 
enhanced. A powerful influence had arisen to strengthen 
and perpetuate the institution of slavery. 

21. The Western Territory.—The complications aris¬ 
ing in connection with the lands between the Chattahoo¬ 
chee and the Mississippi make one of the most prominent 
topics in Georgia’s early history. After the Revolution 
the State claimed all of this region north of the 31st par¬ 
allel, in virtue of commissions issued to Governor Wright. 
South Carolina, however, contended that her original char¬ 
ter covered this area, while the United States claimed it 
as conquered by the combined efforts of the States, and 
ceded to the general government by the treaty of peace. 
Spain maintained her right to all below parallel 32° 30' 
denying England’s power to cede a region conquered by 
herself. Her claims, however, were given up in the treaty 
of Madrid, negotiated by Pinckney in 1795. South Caro- 


THE CIVIL Uim'ORY OF GEORCIA 


25 


lina withdrew in 1787; the Federal authorities continued 
to resist Georgia's claim, but the final victory rested with 
the State. The compromise of 1802 granted all her de¬ 
mands, and the Supreme Court in 1827 confirmed the 
validity of her title.^ 

22. The advantage accruing to Georgia from the title to 
this vast territory was more apparent than real. It was in 
the possession of the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Cherokees and 
Creeks, powerful tribes with which the Commonwealth 
was utterly unable to cope, and all standing in treaty re¬ 
lations with the Federal government, which exercised an 
immediate protectorate over them. Moreover, the value 
of these lands for purposes of settlement and commerce 
depended largely upon the navigation of the Mississippi, 
which was entirely controlled by Spain. When, therefore, 
an oflCer was made to the State of the purchase of large 
tracts of this territory she was not unwilling to sell. Land 
speculation was one of the leading characteristics of the 
United States at this time, and the strategic advantages 
of a commercial settlement on the Mississippi near the 
mouth of the Yazoo were soon recognized. As early as 
1785 applications were made to the legislature for grants 
in this region, and steps were taken toward the organiza¬ 
tion of Bourbon County.’’ In 1789 an agreement was 
effected with the South Carolina A^azoo Company,” soon 
followed by others with similar companies formed in Ten¬ 
nessee and Virginia. Much energy, capital and intrigue 
were expended in the promotion of these schemes; but 

1 “ The very ground on which she (the U. S.) denied the ca¬ 
pacity of Spain to conquer or take by cession the territory on the 
Mississippi was fatal to the pretensions set up by her against 
Georgia * * * to wit, that Spain could not acquire by con¬ 

quest a territory within the limits claimed by an ally in the 
war.”—Harcourt vs. Gaillard, 12 Wheaton, 523. 



26 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 

eventually all failed in establishing settlements, and but a 
fraction of the stipulated purchase-money reached the 
State treasury. 

23. The fever of land speculation was not lessened by 
these failures, and in 1?94 the legislature was importuned 
for new grants. Several companies, the largest formed in 
Georgia, including many prominent men and a majority 
of the members of the legislature itself, lobbied through a 
bill disposing of the greater j)art of what is now Alabama 
and Mississippi at a cent and a half an acre. It became 
a law January 7, 1795, and at once aroused a storm of in¬ 
dignation. It was declared that the legislature had fraudu¬ 
lently and unconstitutionally given away the people’s in¬ 
heritance. A constitutional convention which met in 
May was memorialized and petitioned to abrogate the 
sale. James Jackson resigned his seat in the United States 
Senate and returned to become an Anti-Yazoo ” leader. 
The legislature of 1796 was elected with the avowed ob¬ 
ject of repealing the obnoxious act, and lost no time in 
carrying out its purpose. The records of the sale were 
publicly destroyed and provision was made for refunding 
the purchase-money. 

24. Many of the speculators, however, had hastened to 
advertise and sell their lands without the limits of the 
State. The Middle States and New England furnished 
large numbers of small purchasers. Many risked their en¬ 
tire savings in the enterprise. Boston alone contributed 
over two millions. When the rescinding act became known 
and the nature of the fraud revealed, the wildest excite¬ 
ment prevailed. The purchasers organized to enforce 
their claims. Congress, already alarmed by the probable 
effect of the Act of 1795 on the Indian territory under its 
protection, now appointed commissioners to treat with 
Georgia in regard to conflicting claims. Madison, Gal- 


THE CIVIL HIHTOHY OE GEORGIA 


27 


latin and Lincoln met Governor Milledge and Senators 
Jackson and Baldwin, the Georgia commissioners, and in 
1802 terms were agreed upon. Georgia ceded all the lands 
west of the Chattahoochee on the payment of $1,250,000 
and upon the promise of the Federal government to re¬ 
move all Indians from her remaining territory as soon 
as practicable. 

The adjustment of the claims of the defrauded purchas¬ 
ers was thus transferred to the United States. After much 
litigation and endless debate in Congi’ess a compromise was 
reached in 1814. 

25. Political Parties. —One of the most notable results 
of the Yazoo agitation was the introduction into Georgia 
of an era of personal pol¬ 
itics. The two national 
parties, the Federalist 
and the Republican, 
which owed their exist¬ 
ence to radically opposed 
ideas as to the nature of 
the Constitution of the 
Union, had for a time 
flourished in Georgia, but 
the great struggle over 
the Yazoo frauds h a d 
effectively crippled the 
Federalists because it was believed that some of the 
leaders of that party were implicated in the scandal; 
and during the early part of the nineteenth century 
there was practically but one party in Georgia, the Re¬ 
publican. But Jackson had been very severe and out¬ 
spoken in his condemnation of persons high and low who 
had engaged in the Yazoo business, and had naturally 
made a great many enemies, chief among whom were the 



Governor John Milledge. 


28 


THE CIVIL GOVERXMEXT OF CEORaiA 


Clarkes. John Clarke was an active, energetic man and 
soon had a considerable following. Jackson was essen¬ 
tially an aristocrat, Clarke a man of the people, and the 
people of Georgia tended for many years to come to di¬ 
vide upon social and economic lines. Men of wealth, the 
large planters, possessing numerous slaves, followed Jack- 
son, and after his death, William H. Crawford, who became 
the leader of that faction. The aristocratic element was, 
of course, strongest in the two centres of immigration, 
which tended to unite on political questions; while the 
frontier communities and small planters were almost solid 
for Clarke. George M. Troup succeeded Jackson in the 
leadership of the seaboard aristocrats, and after Crawford 
withdrew into national politics, Troup became the sole 
leader of the party, to which he gave his name. The an¬ 
tagonism between the Troup Party and the Clarke Party 
became very prominent in 1819, when Clarke defeated 
Troup for the governorship by a small majority. Again 
in 1821 Clarke was victorious by a majority of two votes, 
the governor at that time being elected by the Legislature. 
In 1825 Troup and Clarke again contested the governor¬ 
ship, Troup winning this time, by a majority of 683, the 
election being now popular. This long era of personal 
politics was brought to an end about seven years later. 
There had been for some time a feeling growing up that 
measures should be substituted for men. The opportunity 
came as the result of a reaction against the extreme State 
rights position maintained by Governor Troup in the strug¬ 
gle over the Indian lands described in succeeding para¬ 
graphs. It was felt by a considerable element in Georgia 
that Troup had pushed his position too far. The Clarke 
Party, therefore, changed its name to the '' Union Party.'' 
The Troup faction took up the challenge and called them¬ 
selves the State Eights Party." 


THE CIVIL HISTORY OF OEORCIA 


20 


In the decade between 1830 and 1840, these two parties 
were absorbed respectively by the National Democratic 
Party, and the National Whig Party; but the rapidly grow¬ 
ing anti-slavery sentiment at the north separated the 
Northern and Southern wings of both parties, and in 1850 
the Southern Whig Party called itself the Constitutional 
Union Party, favoring Clay’s Compromise. The South¬ 
ern Democrats became the Southern Eights Party and op¬ 
posed the Compromise. After the agitation over Clay’s 
measures had died down these two Southern parties went 
back to the old alignment of Whig and Democrat, though 
the former was never afterwards very strong. Many of the 
prominent Whigs in Georgia, including Toombs and 
Stephens, with their followers, went over to the Democrats 
in 1854, as a consequence of the attitude in the Nortliern 
wing of the Whig Party on the slavery question. Before 
1860 the Whig Party had disappeared from Georgia; and 
since the war there has practically been but one party, the 
Democratic. 

26. Indian Troubles.— The Indians dwelling within 
the limits of Georgia and upon her borders were destined 
to give rise to a great deal of trouble. In the North where 
remnants of the Indian tribes remained, the Jurisdiction 
of the several States was quietly and effectively extended 
over them; but this was prevented in Georgia by the or¬ 
ganized tribal governments of the Creeks and Cherokees, 
protected by definite treaties with the United States. The 
Federal authorities had indeed promised in 1802 to extin¬ 
guish their claims and remove them as soon as it could be 
done peaceably and safely; but their consent was hard to 
obtain, and in the meantime the progress of the State was 
impeded and her development checked by tlie presence 
within her borders of independent sovereignties, occupy¬ 
ing much of her choicest laiul. Various purcliases were 


30 


THE CIYTL aOVERyMEXT OF OEOROIA 


made from time to time by both Federal and State agents, 
and new counties organized and opened to settlement. 
But tlie Indians at length became suspicions of the motives 
of the whites, and persistently refused to sell. The issue 
between the State and the Federal government then be¬ 
came serious. 

27. During the long years that this question was pend¬ 
ing a number of Indian outbreaks occurred. Emissaries 
of the British in the War of 1812 stirred up the Seminoles 
and Creeks to hostilities. The legislature appropriated 
thirty thousand dollars and mobilized the militia. Gen¬ 
eral Newnan led an expedition which quieted the Semi¬ 
noles. The Creeks, after they had massacred five hundred 
and fifty persons at Fort Mimms, and had driven most of 
the settlers from Alabama, were at length subdued by the 
combined efforts of the Georgia forces under General 
Floyd and the Tennessee troops under x4ndrew Jackson. 
This was the beginning of Jackson’s national fame and 
popularity. 

28. In 1816 the Seminoles were again in arms. The 
hostilities covered a wide area, and were kept up for a 
period of two years. Governor Eabun applied to the War 
department for aid, and General Gaines was sent to the 
Florida frontier with Federal troops. In December, Jack- 
son, now a major-general in the United States service, 
was given command in Georgia. AYith characteristic 
energy he crossed the border and captured the Spanish 
strongholds of St. Marks and Pensacola, on the plea that 
they were places of refuge for the hostile Indians and were 
centres of disturbance. Arbuthnot and Ambrister, two 
English subjects whom he suspected of stirring up the In¬ 
dians, Jackson summarily court-martialed and executed. 
His vigorous conduct, while involving the government in 


TEE CIVIL HISTORY OF QEORGIA 


31 


some difficulty with Spaiu and England, effectually ter¬ 
minated the war. 

29. A slight anticipation will enable us to complete the 
period of Indian warfare. In 1835 an attempt to remove 
the Seminoles from Florida led to a second war which 
lasted until 1843. The great chief Osceola rallied the na¬ 
tive forces around him, and in 

the tangled swamps and un¬ 
trodden recesses of their hunt¬ 
ing grounds, long bade defiance 
to the troops of the Union. 

The contagion spread to the 
Creeks in Alabama. General 
Winfield Scott hastened to the 
rescue, hut many depredations 
were committed, and Eoanoke 
on the (ffiattahoochee was at¬ 
tacked and burned before the 
Indians were brought to terms. 

As a result of the war the 

Creeks were all removed to the Western territory. Tlie 
war in Florida was prolonged at great trouble and expense, 
until the Seminoles were exhausted. 

30. The persistent efforts of Georgia to induce the gov¬ 
ernment to fulfil its pledge of 1802 had no practical results 
until the administration of George M. Troup, who was 
governor from 1823 to 1827. His firmness and address 
led to the negotiation of a treaty with the Creek chiefs 
by which the State secured a right to all their lands. 
These chiefs probably acted from selfish motives and 
without authority from the tribe. The Indians felt them¬ 
selves defrauded and sent to Washington an indignant 
protest. President Adams sympathized with them, and 



Governor George M. Troup. 


32 


THE CIVIL aOVERXMENT OF OEORCIA 


did liis best to overthrow the arrangement. At one time, 
indeed, he came into such violent collision with Troup 
that the governor called out the militia to resist the Fed¬ 
eral forces. Congress was, however, in determined oppo¬ 
sition to Adams, and glad of the opportunity to humiliate 
him. It expressed its sympathy with Georgia, and the 
treaty was duly carried out. 

31. The Cherokees, however, were still firmly intrenched 
in their position, and were a much more serious menace to 
the State’s interests than the Creeks. They were nearly 
fifteen thousand in number and occupied the most fertile 
portion of the north-western territory. They were fairly 
civilized, peaceable and well-governed. Their conduct af¬ 
forded no excuse for the use of force, and they stood upon 
their treaty rights in refusing to sell their land. They 
seemed destined to become fixed as a permanent independ¬ 
ent community within the State. 

The current of national politics wliich brought Jackson 
to tlie presidency gave Georgia the opportunity to avert 
tJie threatened danger. Jackson was the eml)odiment of 
the vigorous young democracy of the West, just awakening 
to a consciousness of its power. Direct and energetic, he 
was not likely to let a point of law stand in his way. His 
sympathies were well known to be hostile to the Indians, 
and his election was no sooner assured than the Geor¬ 
gia legislature passed an act extending the jurisdiction of 
the State over the country of the Cherokees and dividing 
it into counties. The President approved, and withdrew 
the Federal troops which Adams had sent down to pro¬ 
tect the Indians; he advised them to submit to the laws 
of the State, or withdraw beyond the Mississippi. Con¬ 
gress in 1830 passed an act to encourage and assist their 
emigration. 

32. Denied the protection of the executive, the Chero- 


THE CIVIL IJJFiTOEY OF CEORaiA 


33 


kees appealed to the Federal courts to sustain their rights. 
Three distinct times the Supreme Court of the United 
States decided in favor of the Indians, but the Fresident 
refused to execute its judgments, confidently appealing to 
the people in the election of 1832 to sustain his position. 
Disheartened in their struggle, the Cherokees in 1830 
agreed to a treaty commuting their claims for a payment 
of five million dollars and the expense of removal. In 
1837 and 1838 they were convoyed to the West by Federal 
troops. Georgia at last had entered upon the possession 
of her entire territory.^ 

33 . Throughout this period the population and pros¬ 
perity of the State had steadily advanced. There are a few 
salient points which come within the scope of our brief 
summary. The boundaries of the Commonwealth were 
finally determined. The southern boundary had been ex¬ 
tended to St. Mary’s river in 1763, and was reaffirmed in 
the treaty of 1783. The South Carolina border was fixed 
by the treaty of Beaufort in 1787. The North Carolina 

1 Schouler in commenting on the efforts of Adams and other 
overzealous northern philanthropists to support the Cherokees 
against the State, says: “Our Indian policy of wardship had led 
to miserable makeshifts, and the nursing of a red nation within 
the precincts of a State was one of them. It was like suckling 
a tiger’s whelps in a lion’s den.” 

As to the law involved: “Those who would judge for them¬ 
selves between Georgia and the Cherokees must resolve this 
point of law: If the power of the Federal executive to negotiate 
treaties be added to the power of Congress to regulate commerce 
with the Indian tribes, do they together furnish a sanction for 
the erection of a permanent independent State within the terri¬ 
tory of one of the members of the Union, and so override that 
other provision of the Constitution which declares that ‘ no new 
State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any 
other State ’ without the express consent of the legislature of that 
State and of Congress ? ”— Woodrow Wilson. 

3—Ga. 



34 


THE CIVIL aOVERyMENT OF GEORGIA 


line was marked out by Endicott of Georgia in 1807. In 
1818, United States commissioners fixed the Tennessee 
boundary, although certain disputes in regard to it were 
not settled until 1887. The purchase by the United States 
of Florida from Spain, in 1819, put an end to the presence 
of a foreign power on our southern border. In 1825, Gov¬ 
ernor Troup secured the establishment of a definite line 
between Georgia and Alabama. 

The great seal of the State was adopted February 8, 
1799. In 1803 a site was selected for the foundation of 
the State capital. The new town was named Milledge- 
ville, in honor of Governor John Milledge. It remained 
the seat of government until 1877, when Atlanta was 
made the capital. In 1810 the first bank in Georgia, the 
Bank of Augusta, was established. In 1819 the enter¬ 
prise of Savannah merchants won for Georgia the honor 
of being the first to send across the ocean a vessel pro¬ 
pelled by steam. The first railway in the State was char¬ 
tered in 1836; it connected Savannah and Macon. An 
act of the legislature in this year provided for the build¬ 
ing of a State railroad. The surplus revenue in the Uni¬ 
ted States treasury was distributed among the States in 
1836. Georgia received over a million dollars, most of 
which was expended in building the Western and Atlantic 
Bailroad, running to Chattanooga. The city of Atlanta, 
at first called Marthasville, sprang up about its southern 
terminus. 

34. The effects of the great financial panic of 1837 
were severely felt in Georgia. Charles J. McDonald, who 
was governor from 1839 to 1841, found it necessary to de¬ 
vote most of his attention to measures of relief. The Cen¬ 
tral Bank of Savannah was established, and advanced 
money to meet the needs of government. The adminis¬ 
tration of George W. Crawford, who succeeded McDonald 


THE CIVIL HIHTOUY OF (lEOHaiA 


35 


and held office for two terms, is signalized by the appear¬ 
ance in Congress of a brilliant groii}) of Georgians, who 
afterward took a leading part in the political life of the 



Governor George \V. Crawford. 



Howell Cobb. Robert Ioombs. 


State. John McPherson Berrien, Howell Cobb, Wilson 
Immpkin, Alexander II. Stephens and Pol)ert Poombs are 
among the names of the Georgia delegation. During 




Alexander II. Stephens. 

and to Mexico and a general in the Confederate service, led 
ten companies from Georgia into action. Many other 
bands of volunteers from the State joined the United 
States forces. In 1847 George W. Towns became governor. 
Crawford was appointed secretary of war in President Tay¬ 
lor’s cabinet in 1849, and Howell Cobb became Speaker 
of the House of Representatives. The national agitation 


TUB CJYll aOXEJiyMByT OF aEOFGTA 


Crawford’s second term the supreme court of Georgia was 
established. Joseph tleni-y lAimpkin became firet chief- 
justice, with Eugenius A. Nisbet and Hiram W arner as 
associate justices. 

35. The annexation of Texas and the prosecution of 
the Mexican lYar found warm support in Georgia. Henry 
R. Jackson, afterward United States minister to Austria 


THE CIVIL Illi^TORY OF CEOlWll 


37 


over slavery, which was rapidly crystallizing about the 
question of the existence of slavery in the territories, had 
its effect on local politics. On the passage of Clay’s famous 
compromise in 1830 new party lines were drawn in the 
State. The Union party,” led by HowOl Cobb, Alex¬ 
ander H. Stephens and Charles J. Jenkins adopted the 
“ Georgia Platform,” agreeing to accept the compromise, 
and, while asserting the- rights of the States, expressing 
devotion to the Union. The “Southern Eights” party, 
headed by McDonald, opposed the compromise uncondi¬ 
tionally. In 1851 the Union party elected Cobb governor, 
polling a large majority over 
McDonald. During his 
term, however, the Demo¬ 
cratic forces rallied and in 
1853 elected their candidate, 

Herschel V. Johnson, over 
Jenkins. The four years of 
J 0 h n s 0 n’s administration 
were years of increase and 
prosperity. But the strug¬ 
gle over slavery was growing 
more and more serious. Tlie 
Eepublican party was formed 
out of the various anti-slav¬ 
ery elements at the Xorth. The signs of an approaching 
crisis became daily more ominous. 

36. Governor Brown’s Adminisration. —The split¬ 
ting of the State Democratic convention of 1857 into a 
number of hostile factions, prevented the nomination, of 
any of the prominent candidates for governor. A compro¬ 
mise was at length effected in the choice of a man then 
comparatively unknown—Joseph E. Brown. A man of 
the people, he had worked his way up from poverty and ob- 



CiOVERNOR Joseph E, Brown. 


38 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 

scurity to the bench of the superior court. Those who bore 
the tidings of his selection are said to have found him, like 
Cincinnatus of old, binding wheat in the fields. His 
nomination and canvass for the office of governor soon 
won him wide popularity, and for four successive terms 
he was elected chief executive of the State. 

The strength and energy of his administration in times 
of peace are shown by the vigor with which he enforced 
the resumption of specie payments by the banks after the 
panic of 1857, and increased the revenues coming to the 
State from its public property. But the war cloud was 
soon to burst, and it is as war-governor that Brown is 
chiefly known. 

37. The triumph of the Eepublican party and the elec¬ 
tion of Lincoln in 1860, was felt by the South to be the 
establishment in power of a party bent upon the destruc¬ 
tion of her social system and her constitutional rights. 
The avowed policy of that party was indeed only to check 
the extension of slavery, not to interfere with its existence 
in the States. But the South was in no mood to draw fine 
distinctions. Bor twenty years she had been misrepre¬ 
sented and, with gross injustice, charged with moral tur¬ 
pitude and wilful inhumanity. Nearly all the northern 
States had passed statutes intended to bar the operation 
of the Federal laws in regard to fugitive slaves. She saw 
the constitutional action of Congress thus deliberately nul¬ 
lified. She felt the whole body of her institutions and in¬ 
terests threatened, and believed it impossible to preserve 
them and remain in the Union. 

38. South Carolina passed its ordinance of secession 
on the 20th of December. On the 16th of January, a 
convention was assembled to deliberate on Georgia’s ac¬ 
tion. There was strong opposition to secession. Alex¬ 
ander H, Stephens, Benjamin H. Hill, Herschel V. John- 



THE CIVIL HISTORV OF GEORGIA 


39 


son and others deemed it the best policy to remain in the 
Union. Robert doombs was the powerful champion of 
the opposite course. On the 19th the final vote was taken, 
and Georgia withdrew from the Union. Governor Brown 
at once seized the Federal arsenal at Augusta, as he had 
already, on January 3, taken possession of Fort Pulaski, 
at the mouth of the Savannah. 

39. The details of the part played by Georgia in the 
desperate struggle of the Civil AVar cannot be condensed 
into our brief narrative of her 
history. The Constitution 
was changed in 18G1 to con¬ 
form to her new relations 
with the government of the 
Confederate States, in which 
her sons took a conspicuous 
place. The opposition to se¬ 
cession, after the step had 
once been taken, gave place to 
enthusiastic devotion to the 
Southern cause. Georgia 
yields the palm to none of 
her sister States in her efforts and sacrifices throughout 
the war. She sent into the field twenty thousand more 
soldiers than her entire voting population. Over three- 
fourths of her wealth was destroyed. The close of the 
struggle left her exhausted and feeble; sadly reduced in 
population, and with only the natural resources of soil and 
climate to repair her shattered fortunes. 

40. Reconstruction. —The most humiliating and em¬ 
bittering result of defeat was the abuse of power by the 
Republican Congress during the reconstruction period. 
The assassination of Lincoln on April 14, 4865, was most 
disastrous for the South. He had outlined and adopted a 



Benjamin H. Hill. 



40 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


23 olicy for the readmissioii of the seceded States that was 
liberal, wise and conciliating. His strength, his dignity, 
and his powers of persuasion were so great that he could 
easily have prevailed over Congress, or carried it with him. 
President Johnson, while he adopted Lincoln’s policy, only 
succeeded in exasperating Congress and goading it to the 
extremity of arbitrary and unconstitutional action. 

Soon after Lee’s surrender. Governor Brown attempted 
to call together the legislature of Georgia. General AVil- 
son, in command of the Federal troops and garrisons in 
the State, forbade its assembling. Governor Brown then 
resigned his office. The State was under military rule. 

41. In accordance with President Johnson’s plan of re¬ 
construction, whenever one-tenth of the voters of 1860 
should have qualified by taking oath to support the Union, 
and should have duly organized a government, that govern¬ 
ment should be recognized by the Federal executive. A 
convention was called under these conditions in October, 
1865, which adopted a new Constitution. The ordinance 
of secession was repealed, slavery abolished, and the war 
debt repudiated. An election was fixed for November, at 
which Charles J. Jenkins was chosen governor. He was 
duly recognized by the President. The new legislature, 
which met December 4, ratified the Thirteenth Amend¬ 
ment to the Federal Constitution, abolisliing slaver}?-, and 
passed a number of statutes intended to place certain re¬ 
strictions and safeguards about the newly emancipated 
slaves. Such measures seemed dictated by ordinary pru¬ 
dence; for all looked with appreliension for dangerous 
consequences to result from the unaccustomed and wholly 
unrestrained liberty of so vast a body of ignoi-ant, desti¬ 
tute and liomeless negroes. 

This process of reorganization took place in nearly all 
the Southern States. 


THE CIVIL HltiTORY OF CEORCIA 


41 


42. In the meantime the Hepublican Congress had met 
in a sullen and intolerant temper. It resented the policy 
of the President in anticipating it in the reorganization of 
the Southern governments; and it was exasperated by the 
belief that the recent laws of Southern legislatures in re¬ 
gard to the negroes were intended to contravene the re¬ 
sults of the war. It soon evolved for itself a theory of the 
status of the defeated States; namely, that all Federal law 
was suspended in regard to them, and that Congress could 
reconstruct them as it pleased. The troops were ordered 
kept at their posts until Congress directed their recall. 
Senators and representatives from the new governments 
were not admitted. The action of the President was flatly 
contravened. A Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitu¬ 
tion was proposed, and its ratification made a condition 
of the readmission of a seceded State. The Freedmen’s 
Bureau was extended and strengthened. The Tenure of 
Office Act was passed to restrict the President’s power; 
and the climax of this course of arbitrary legislation was 
reached in the Eeconstruction Act of March 1, 1867. 

43. By this act the Southern States were arranged in 
five military districts under martial law, each commanded 
by a Union general, who was to conduct the reorganization 
of government. A register of voters acceptable to the ideas 
of Congress was to be made; a convention was to be called 
in each State of delegates elected by these registered voters, 
and a Constitution was to be framed, ratified and sent to 
Congress for approval. Should this prove satisfactory the 
reconstructed State was to be admitted as soon as its new 
legislature had ratified the proposed Fourteenth Amend¬ 
ment. In the meantime the authority of Congress, 
through its military power, was to be supreme. 

44. Then followed a period of acute suffering for Georgia 
and her sister States of the South. The more respectable 


43 


THE CIVIL aOVERSMENT OF GEORGIA 


white men were excluded from the franchise, and negroes 
were everywhere enrolled. Adventurers from the ISiorth, 
unscrupulous and unprincipled, attracted by the instinct 
of plunder, soon gained absolute control of the black ma¬ 
jorities. “ An extraordinary carnival of public crime set 
in under the forms of law.'' ^ General Pope, then in mili¬ 
tary command of the State, called his convention in At¬ 
lanta. One hundred and seventy delegates, mostly Eepub- 
licans and negroes, met on December 7, 18G7, the session 
lasting till March. A new Constitution was drafted, which 
owing to the efforts of a handful of good men in the con¬ 
vention, was fairly satisfactory. 

Governor Jenkins on refusing to ])ay forty thousand dol¬ 
lars from the State treasury for the expenses of tins con¬ 
vention, was removed from office by General Meade, who 
had succeeded Pope. In a bold attempt to save the trea¬ 
sury from the raids of the revolutionary power then in 
control, Jenkins carried off all the funds of the State, to¬ 
gether with the great seal, and deposited them in a New 
York bank. He applied to the Supreme Court for redress, 
but of course in vain. 

The first election under the Constitution of 1868 was 
held in April of that year. Eufus B. Bullock, the Eepub- 
lican candidate, was elected, the Democrats for the most 
part being excluded from the polls. The new legislature 
met in July; the Fourteenth Amendment was duly rati¬ 
fied, and the people saw with heartfelt joy the withdrawal 
of military rule. 

45. But their troubles were not yet ended. Bullock was 
strongly partisan, and the legislative majority was grossly 
incompetent. Taxes drained the State of sums which 
found their way into the pockets of the “ carpet-bagger " 


1 Woodrow Wilson’s Division and Reunion, p. 268. 



THE CIVIL HISTORY OF GEORGIA 


43 


and scalawag/^ Public debts were created to provide 
money for similar fraudulent purposes. At length by a 
determined effort the Democrats got control of the legisla¬ 
ture. Twenty-five negro members were turned out and a 
law passed declaring only whites eligible to office. This 
brought back reconstruction. Bullock went to Washing¬ 
ton and secured the passage of an act practically restoring 
the old legislature. The State was once more put under 
military rule, with General Terry in command, and a new 
condition imposed upon readmission to the Union—the 
ratification of a Fifteenth Amendment, securing the fran¬ 
chise to the negro. The Eepublican administration thus 
bolstered up by Federal authority became more flagrantly 
reckless and arbitrary than ever. It soon reached a point 
which even Congress could not tolerate. A committee was 
appointed to investigate the state of affairs, whose report 
led to an act restoring Georgia to the Union. This be¬ 
came law on July 15, 1870. Georgia was the last of the 
Southern States to be readmitted to the Union. 

46. Governor Bullock was re-elected in November, 1870, 
in accordance with the act of Congress. His party was 
soon superseded by the Democrats, however, and in Octo¬ 
ber, 1871, fearing impeachment for the abuses of his ad¬ 
ministration, he resigned and fled the State. Benjamin 
Conley, president of the Senate, succeeded to the executive 
office for the short period of his unexpired term. Some 
years later Bullock was arrested and brought back for trial, 
but the difficulty of obtaining sufficient evidence for con¬ 
viction caused the proceedings against him to be dropped. 

47. The inauguration of James M. Smith as governor 
in January, 1872, marks the full restoration of the people 
of Georgia to their birthright. The control of affairs was 
now in the hands of the Democratic majority. The pro¬ 
cess of upbuilding the industries shattered by the war and 


44 


TUE CIVIL GOVERyMEXT OF GEORGIA 


the accumulation of new capital made rapid progress. 
Even during the abuses and oppression of reconstruction 
much had been done. The energy and enterprise of the 
people now had a free field. A reconstruction debt of 
some fifty millions of dollars had been piled up, all of 
which was shouldered by the new administration except 
about eight million dollars of notoriously fraudulent bonds, 
which were repudiated. The Western and Atlantic rail¬ 
road was leased, and half its rental devoted to the newly 
inaugurated system of public schools. 

In 1873 the policy of leasing State convicts was adopted. 
At first entered upon for five years, the lease in 1876 was 
extended to twenty. The period expired in 1899, and as 
the experiment had proved in many respects unsatisfactory, 
a modified system was adopted by which the convicts are 
placed under the care and supervision of a Prison Com¬ 
mission as described in section 81. 

48. Alfred H. Colquitt was governor from 1877 to 1882. 

In the first year of his ad¬ 
ministration a new Constitu¬ 
tion was adopted, as else¬ 
where narrated. The appoint¬ 
ment in 1879 of a State rail¬ 
road commission to regulate 
freight and passenger traffic 
is noteworthy. In this, Geor¬ 
gia anticipated the policy 
which has since come to be 

Govekhor Alered h. Coesuixi. ^“ognized as the best method 
of controlling quasi-public 
corporations in the interests of the people. The Inter¬ 
state Commerce Commission, established by the Federal 
government in 1887, shows the application of this princi- 



TEE CIVIL IIISTOEY OF QEOROIA 


45 


pie on a national scale. In 1907 the powers of the State 
commission were greatly enlarged and its jurisdiction ex¬ 
tended to include other public service corporations. 

Governor Colquitt was succeeded by the veteran states¬ 
man Alexander H. Stephens. His death within a few 
months after his inauguration caused genuine and uni¬ 
versal sorrow. Henry D. McDaniel was elected to fill his 
unexpired term, and on re-election served till 1886. In 
1883 provision was made for the erection of a new capitol 
at Atlanta, to cost one million dollars. It was completed 
in 1889. 

49. After two terms filled by Governor John B. Gordon, 
William J. Northen, the candidate of a new organization, 
known as the Farmers’ Alliance, was made governor. The 
Alliance had its origin in a secret, non-political society for 
the promotion of the interests of the farming community, 
which were thought to be neglected in legislation. After 
its successful political venture in 1890, it gradually disin¬ 
tegrated, being absorbed for the most part in the Demo¬ 
cratic party. Many of its members, however, entered the 
Populist or Third Party, which attained a rapid, though 
short-lived, growth throughout the West and South. It 
was composed chiefly of the rural elements of these sec¬ 
tions, and was a result of general dissatisfaction with the 
attitude of both the old parties toward agricultural inter¬ 
ests. The Third Party had a candidate for President in 
the field in 1892, who received 1,122,045 ballots, rather 
more than one-tenth of the total popular vote. The party 
platform in general favors the extension of the functions 
of the government, both State and Federal, to a greatly 
increased participation in the industrial life of the people. 
At the present time the Third Party has practically died 
out. It put up a candidate for the Presidency in 1904, 


4G TJIE CITTL aOVEEXMEXT OF GEORGIA 

who received only 117,183 votes; there having been a 
steady movement back to the Democratic Party since the 
high water mark of Populism in 1892. 

Governor Northen was re-elected in 1892. His able and 

faithful efforts to ad¬ 
vance all interests of the 
State have won him uni¬ 
versal esteem. In pro¬ 
moting the cause of ed¬ 
ucation and in encour¬ 
aging immigration into 
Georgia, his administra- 
t i 0 n was noteworthy. 
The State received dis¬ 
tinction in national af¬ 
fairs from the selection 
of Charles F. Crisp as 
Speaker of the 53d Congress, and of Hoke Smith as Sec¬ 
retary of the Interior. 

50 . The Cotton States and International Exposition in 
1895 brought together a gratifying display of the wealth 
and resources of Georgia and of the South, in tangible 
evidence of the work wrought by Southern energy since 
the devastation of the war. In more than one sense it 
seemed to mark th':j end of the period of recuperation from 
the effects of the war and reconstruction. The State had 
attained in productive capital and taxable property a value 
about equal to that of 1860; an era of prosperity and ma¬ 
terial advancement was dawning; and sectional feeling, 
with the bitterness of reconstruction memories, was dis¬ 
appearing in the strong current of national life. 

51 . The last decade, embracing the administrations of 
Governor Allen D. Candler (1898-1902), Governor Joseph 



THE CIVIL HISTORY OF GEORGIA 


47 


M. Terrell (1902-1907), and the beginning of that of Gov¬ 
ernor Hoke Smith, has been a period of marked progress. 
The State has participated in the general prosperity of 
the country. The higher price of cotton, their great staple, 
has materially advanced the condition of the farmers. 
Land has greatly risen in value; wealth has accumulated; 
and the presence of new capital has manifested itself com¬ 
mercially in the mul¬ 
tiplication of banking 
facilities, the extension 
of railroads, the im¬ 
provement o f county 
roads; and industrially 
in the building of cot¬ 
ton factories, the de¬ 
velopment of water 
powers, the growth of 
the lumber business, 
and the introduction of 
many new manufac¬ 
tures. The chief diffi¬ 
culty in the way of 
the rapid expansion 
along all lines seems to have been an insufficient labor 
supply. Laborers, skilled and unskilled, are everywhere 
in demand, and wages of all classes of workingmen have 
greatly advanced. This condition has led to the serious 
consideration of plans for attracting immigration from 
Europe under State auspices. The recent financial strin¬ 
gency seems to have had but slight effect in Georgia. 

52 . A most noteworthy feature of these years is the 
great increase of government activity, both in the exten¬ 
sion of executive functions exercised through various new 



Hoke Smith. 


18 


THE CIVIL aOVEEVME'ST OF CEORCIA 


boards and commissions, and in the enactment of a num¬ 
ber of important regulative and protective measures. As 
evidence of the former may be mentioned the Commission¬ 
er of Pensions; the Prison Commission, and reform of the 
convict system; the State Peformatory for juvenile crim¬ 
inals, established at Milledgeville; the Library Commis¬ 
sion; the School-book Commission, with the prescription 
of uniform text-books; the department of Horticulture 
and Pomology; the Board of Entomology; the State Board 
of Health; and the radical extension of the powers and 
jurisdiction of the State Eailroad Commission, with its pro¬ 
hibition of franks and free passes and reduction of rates. 
Among the regulative and protective measures are the va¬ 
grancy law, making vagrancy a misdemeanor; the pure 
food law; the law forbidding the sale of narcotics, except 
on physician’s prescription; the law absolutely forbidding 
dealing in futures within the limits of the State; the child 
labor law, forbidding factories to employ children under 
ten, and under fourteen unless they can read and write 
and have attended school for at least twelve weeks of the 
preceding year; the law strictly regulating banking, and 
placing it under the supervision of the State treasurer; 
and the State prohibition law of 1907. 

53. The State prohibition law should be especially no¬ 
ticed in connection with the important amendment to the 
constitution proposed in 1907, increasing the qualifications 
required of persons allowed to vote,—a measure generally 
known as the disfranchisement law. Both of these mea¬ 
sures are closely related to the race problem. They rep¬ 
resent the fruition of a sentiment that has been growing 
for a number of years; namely, that the State in its efforts 
to elevate the negro race has been greatly handicapped by 
the evil of drink, and by wholly erroneous ideas prevalent 


THE CIVIL HISTORY OF GEORGIA 40 

among the inferior race as to the proper exercise of politi¬ 
cal rights. The prohibition law was necessary to remove 
one of the greatest incentives to crime; and disfranchise¬ 
ment seemed to be the only method of teaching the negro 
that the ballot is not a financial asset, but is a privilege to 
be acquired only by those who qualify themselves by edu¬ 
cation and industry to exercise an intelligent suffrage. 

54 . From an educational point of view the last ten 
years are distinctly encouraging. Each year has brought 
evidence of a greater appreciation on the part of the general 
assembly of the importance of providing a larger support 
for both the public schools and the higher institutions of 
learning. The State Teachers’ Association was enlarged 
and reorganized in 1900 under tlie name of the Georgia 
Educational Association, and has brought constant influ¬ 
ence to bear upon the promotion of intelligent legislation 
in the held of public education. The association has mea¬ 
sures now pending to make high schools an integral part 
of the State system, and to inaugurate other important 
and desirable changes. The amendment to the constitu¬ 
tion in 1903 and subsequent legislation which empowered 
counties and the newly-formed school districts to supple¬ 
ment the State school fund by a local tax, was a notable 
advance. The effective development of the Normal School 
at Athens, and the establishment of a regular course of 
Summer School instruction at the University, have done 
much to meet the demand for properly ti*ained teachers. 
High-school work throughout the State has been greatly 
stimulated by the co-ordination of all schools that attain 
an established standard with the University system. 

Finally, the recognition of the supreme importance to 
the State of intelligent methods of agriculture has led to 
a systematic attempt at agricultural education. Eudimen- 


4—Ga. 



50 


THE CIVIL GOVEEXMEVT OF GEORGIA 


tary agriculture has been introduced into the curriculum 
of the public schools; provision has been made for an 
agricultural high-school in each of the eleven congres¬ 
sional districts; and a great central agricultural college 
has been established as a co-ordinate department of the 
University of Georgia. 


CHAPTER II 

THE CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA 


55. A Constitution is a body of fundamental law estab¬ 
lishing or “constituting’’ a government. Written consti¬ 
tutions, such as prevail in the United States, may be traced 
to an origin in the charters first granted by the Norman 
kings to various English towns, usually conferring special 
privileges, and sometimes containing a fi-ame of govern¬ 
ment. Similar charters were granted to the merchant 
guilds and trading companies of the Middle Ages. The 
Muscovy and East India companies of the sixteenth cen¬ 
tury are later examples. Tlie London and Plymouth 
companies that founded the first permanent English colo¬ 
nies in America operated under charters of this character. 
The Massachusetts Bay company brought its celebrated 
charter of 1G28 to America, and used it as a written con¬ 
stitution for the colony. The people of Connecticut dur¬ 
ing the Pevolution bodily adopted the liberal charter 
granted them l)y Charles IT. as the constitution of the 
State, and lived under it until 1818. Bhode Island kept 
its colonial charter as its State constitution until 1842. 

A written constitution is to be looked upon as a limita¬ 
tion of the powers of government. It is not the source, 
but the result of the liberty of the people, defining the 
rights which they already possess, and establishing a sys¬ 
tematic organization for their protection. 

56. Characteristics of State Constitutions. —There 
are certain features common to all the State constitutions, 

51 


52 


THE CIVIL aOVEEyMEVT OF CEOEGJA 


although great diversities exist with regard to political 
regulations, and to the details of the organization of gov¬ 
ernment. They all contain: (1) a declaration of rights, 
(2) an assertion of the sovereignty of the people; (3) the 
creation of three co-ordinate departments of government, 
the legislative, the executive, and the judicial; (4) a defi¬ 
nition of the qualifications necessary for the right of suf¬ 
frage; and (5) an expressed or implied recognition of the 
right of local self-government. 

Many State constitutions trench upon the domain of 
private law, embodying regulations as to the management 
of State property, tlie administration of the State debt, 
formulating homestead exemption laws and sumptuary 
laws, and invading in many points the field properly be¬ 
longing to legislation. Tliis is unfortunate, as it tends to 
obscure the distinction between constitutional and ordi¬ 
nary law. It doubtless arises from a distrust of legislators, 
a desire to secure permanency for certain classes of laws, 
and to give certain laws the approbation of a popular 
vote. One effect is to cause much more frecjuent changes 
in the constitutions of the States than would otherwise 
be necessary. 

57. The First Constitution of Georgia was adopted as 
already related, on the 5th of February, ITTT. Its provi¬ 
sions were the result of the ex])erience of the colonists 
under the frame of government of 1754.^ The preamble re¬ 
cites the oppressions of Britain, the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence, and the recommendation of the Continental 
Congress as to the establishment of State governments. 
Sixty-three articles follow. The executive, legislative and 
judicial departments were declared to be separate and dis¬ 
tinct. This important change from English and colonial 


1 See H 14, pa^e 18. 



THE COXETITUTION OF GEORGIA 


precedent was made in all the American States. The colo¬ 
nial governor and council had combined all three func¬ 
tions. The change involved others, such as the creation 
of new courts to discharge the governor’s judicial duties, 
and of a new upper house to supply the place of the legis¬ 
lative council. 

The legislature under this Constitution was to consist of 
one House of Assembly elected annually by the free¬ 
holders of the eight counties which were now created to 
supersede the old parishes. A stiff property qualification 
was required of both members and electors. Each county 
was assigned ten representatives, except Liberty, which 
had fourteen, and Glynn and Camden, whose sparse popu¬ 
lation entitled them to only one each. Future counties 
were to be given ten representatives whenever they had 
one hundred or more electors. 

The governor was to be chosen annually by the Assem¬ 
bly on its first day of meeting—the first Tuesday in Janu¬ 
ary. His powers as compared with tliose of the colonial 
governor were greatly restricted. He had no veto and 
even pardons had to be referred to the Assembly. 

An Executive Council was to be selected on the same day 
as the governor. The representatives were to choose by 
ballot from their own number two councillors for each 
county having ten representatives. The representatives 
remaining after this selection constituted the House of As¬ 
sembly. The Executive Council chose its own president, 
who took the place of the governor when absent. Vote 
was taken in this body by counties. Laws of the Assembly 
were to be submitted to the Council, who might send a 
committee to the House to propose amendments. 

A superior court of general jurisdiction was to be estab¬ 
lished in each county. Its Ijcncli was composed of a chief 
justice, and any three or more justices residing in the 



54 


THE CIVIL GOVEBXMEXT OF GEO KOI A 


county. Sessions were to be held twice a year. Maritime 
cases were to be tried by a special court. The lower courts 
were to be continued as previously established. A register 
of probates was appointed in each county. Entails were 
forbidden. Free toleration of all religions was guaranteed. 
No clergyman was to be eligible to the Assembly. Exces¬ 
sive fines and bail were declared unlawful. Habeas corinis, 
freedom of the press, and jury trial were pronounced in¬ 
alienable rights. 

58. The Second Constitution 1789. — Georgia’s ratifi¬ 
cation of the Federal Constitution, January 2, 1788, made 
necessary certain alterations in her own, and a convention 
of three persons from each county, nominated by the As¬ 
sembly, was called at Augusta to revise the whole instru¬ 
ment. On November 24 their work was made public. A 
second convention of elected delegates was held in Janu¬ 
ary, 1789, to ratify. Certain alterations were proposed, 
and a third convention was called in May, which finally 
ratified and adopted the new Constitution, to take effect 
on the first Monday in October, 1789. 

This instrument brought the State government into 
proper adjustment with that of the United States. The 
supremacy of the Federal Constitution was recognized; 
and provision was made for the selection of presidential 
electors and United States senators and congressmen. 

The most striking changes in the government of the 
State were the creation of a Senate, whose members were 
to be elected triennially; the abolition of the Executive 
Council; the extension of the governor’s term to two 
years, and the change in the manner of his election. The 
representatives hereafter were to choose three persons, 
from whom the Senate was to select one to serve as gov¬ 
ernor. 

59. The Third Constitution, 1798. —Another conven- 


TFIE COXiiTITUTION OF GEORGIA 


55 


tion was soon called to consider further alterations. Three 
delegates from each county met at Louisville in May, 1795, 
and effected a number of amendments. The senators were 
to be elected annually, instead of triennially; all elections 
of the General Assembly were to be by joint ballot; its 
time of meeting was changed from November to January; 
the seat of govermnent was removed from Augusta to 
Louisville. 

The amendments of 1795 were felt to be insufficient, 
and in May, 1798, a convention was held at Louisville, 
which drew up the third Constitution of the State. 

The suffrage w^as extended and the property qualifica¬ 
tion of electors dropped. Eepresentatives were to be ap¬ 
portioned to the counties according to population, count¬ 
ing three-fifths of the negroes, each county to have one 
representative and no county to. have more than four. A 
State census was to be taken every seven years. 

The powers of the governor were increased; he was 
given the veto and pardoning power as at present. The 
offices of secretary of State, treasurer, and surveyor-general 
were created, the election being placed in the General As¬ 
sembly. In 1799 the office of comptroller-general was 
added by statute. 

60. Changes in the Constitution of 1798. —The Con¬ 
stitution of 1798 remained the basis of our government 
until the Civil War. It was supplemented by the Ju¬ 
diciary Act of 1799; and by various amendments it was 
modified and adapted to changing conditions. The gen¬ 
eral trend of these amendments was toward an increase 
in the direct political influence of the people. The gov¬ 
ernor after 1823 was elected by popular vote. In 1834-35 
the property qualification required of State senators and 
representatives was dropped. In 1845 a similar change 
was made in the office of governor. 


56 THE CIVIL GOVERyME:ST OF GEORGIA 

Ill 1840 the General Assembly was made biennial and 
in 1812 State senatorial districts were created, and a new 
method of aijportioning representatives was introduced. 

The power of amendment^ thus supplied the elasticity 
which enabled the Constitution to meet the requirements 
of later generations. 

61. The Constitution during the War and Recon¬ 
struction underwent a number of changes. We have 
already discussed the events leading to the adoption of 
Georgia’s fourth Constitution in 1861; the fifth, in 1865; 
and the sixth, in 1868. The last-named extended the 
terms of governor and State officers from two to four 
years. The General Assembly was to meet annually; 
judges of the supreme and superior courts were to be ap¬ 
pointed by the governor, and various other changes were 
made. Public education was recognized; and slavery and 
political discrimination of race were abolished. 

62. The Constitution of 1877. —The seventh Consti¬ 
tution of Georgia was ratified by vote of the people on 
December 5, 1877. Under this Constitution, modified by 
various amendments, we are still living. Many of the 
innovations of the Constitution of 1868 were swept away. 
Others were retained or modified, as shown desirable by 
the experience of the decade. A noticeable increase in 
the provisions governing matters of private law shows a 
tendency to throw additional safeguards about legislation, 
and to restrict the powers of the General Assembly. 

PROMINENT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF 
GEORGIA 

1531). llernaiido De Soto traverses Georgia. 

1562. Jean Kibaut at Port Royal. 

1564. Laudoniii^re on St. John’s River. 


1 See Constitution, Art. XIII, Sect. I. 




THE CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA 


57 


1565. St. Augustine founded by Melendez. 

1630. Grant of Charles I. to Sir Eobert Heath. 

1717. Sir Robert Montgomery’s attempts at colonization. 

1732. June 9. Charter granted by George II. to Oglethorpe and 
his associates. Georgia named. 

1732. November 17. The “Anne,” Captain John Thomas, sails 

from Gravesend with 130 emigrants for Georgia. 

1733. January 13. Tlie “Anne” arrives at Charleston. 

1733. February 12. The colonists reach Savannah. “Georgia 

Day.” 

1734. March. Arrival of the Salzburgers. 

1735. Highlanders settle at Darien. 

1735. John and Charles Wesley in Georgia. 

1735. Augusta founded. 

1736. George Whitefield in Georgia. 

1739. Oglethorpe lays siege to St. Augustine. 

1742. Spaniards attack Frederica. 

1743. Oglethorpe leaves the colony. 

1743. Colonel William Stephens, President of the colony. 

1751. Henry Parker, President. 

1751. First Provincial Assembly. 

1752. June 23. The Trustees surrender the Charter to the 

Crown. 

1754. Georgia’s frame of government as a Crown colony. 

1754. Captain John Reynolds, the first royal governor. 

1757. Henry Ellis, second royal governor. 

1760. James Wright, third and last royal governor. 

1763. Peace of Paris. Spain cedes Florida to England. 

Southern boundary of Georgia, the St. Mary’s River. 

1774. “Liberty Boys” organize. 

1775. July 4. Revolutionary Provincial Congress. 

1776. Lyman Hall, Gwinnett and Walton sign the Declaration 

of Independence. 

1777. February 5. State Constitution adopted. 

1777. May. John Adam Treutlen, first governor. 

1778. Georgia signs the Articles of Confederation. 

1778. British occupy Savannah. 

1779. October 9. D’Estaing and Lincoln attack Savannah. Death 

of Pulaski. 

1782. British withdraw from Georgia. 


58 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


1783. Sept. 3. Treaty of Peace signed at Paris and Versailles. 

Southern boundary confirmed. 

1783-90. Settlement of North Carolinians and Virginians on the 
Broad river. 

1784. Legislature donates 40,000 acres of land to found a uni¬ 

versity. 

1785. University of Georgia chartered. 

1788. January 2. Georgia ratifies the Constitution of the Uni¬ 

ted States. 

1789, Second State Constitution. 

1793. Invention of the cotton gin. 

1794-G. Yazoo frauds. 

1795. Louisville made State capital. 

1798. Third State Constitution. 

1799. Judiciary Act. 

1799. Great Seal adopted. 

1801. Donation of Governor Milledge. University of Georgia. 

opened. 

1802. Georgia cedes her western territory to the United States. 

1803. INIilledgeville founded as capital. 

1813-14. The Creek War. 

1816-18. First Seminole War. 

1819. The “ Savannah ” crosses the ocean by aid of steam. 

1823-7. Governor Troup in conflict with United States authori¬ 
ties. 

1835-43. Second Seminole War. 

1836. First Railroad in Georgia chartered. 

1836. Act passed for building Western and Atlantic R. R. 

1837-8. Cherokees finally removed from the State. 

1837. Emory College founded by the INIethodists, 

1838. Mercer University founded by the Baptists. 

1845. Supreme Court established. 

1850. “ Union ” and “ Southern Rights ” parties formed. 

1857-65. Joseph E. Brown, governor. 

1861. January 19. Georgia secedes from the L^nion. 

1861. Fourth State Constitution, 

1862. Reduction of Fort Pulaski. Blockade of Savannah. 

1863. Battle of Chickamauga. 

1864. Occupation and destruction of Atlanta. 

1864. Sherman’s IVlarch to the Sea. 




THE COXi^TITLTWN OF (JEOROIA 


59 


18Go. Fifth State Constitution. 

1805-70. Keconstruction. 

18(57. Dec.—1808, March. General Pope’s convention. 

1808. Sixth State Constitution. 

1808-71. Bullock’s administration. 

1870. July 15. Georgia re-enters the Union. 

1871. Public school system put in operation. 

1877. Seventh State Constitution. 

1877. Atlanta made State capital. 

1879. State Railroad Commission established. 

1890. The “Farmers’ Alliance” elects Governor Northern 
1892. Growth of the Populist Party. 

1895. Sept. 18-Dec. 31. The Cotton States and International 
Exposition. 

1897. Prison Commission established. 

1903. Vagrancy Law. 

1905. School districts created. Local tax. 

1900. Court of Appeals established. 

1900. Child Labor Law. 

1900. Agricultural High-schools established. 

1907. State IMilitia reorganized. 

1907. State Railroad Commission reorganized. 

1907. State Prohibition. 

1908. Disfranchisement Amendment. 



The Great Seal of the State of Georgia. 


PART II 

CHAPTER III 

THE STATE GOVERNMENT 

63. The State and the nation.—The State retains un¬ 
der the Constitution of the United States all rights not 
expressly or by implication conferred in that document 
upon the Federal government. Its powers are thus wide 
and varied. They include the creation and alteration of 
its Constitution and frame of government; the establish¬ 
ment of its courts, and system of civil and criminal pro¬ 
cedure; the adoption of its whole body of private law; 
the regulation of local government in counties, cities, 
towns and districts; the control of State and local taxa¬ 
tion and public debts; and the prescription of qualifica¬ 
tions for citizenship. Indeed, nearly all the ordinary 
affairs of the daily life of the citizen fall within the sphere 
of the State’s authority. An American may through a 
long life never be reminded of the Federal government, 

GO 









THE ETATE OOVERNMENT 


G1 


except when he votes at presidential and congressional 
elections, lodges a complaint against the post-office, and 
opens his trunks for a custom-house officer on the pier at 
New York, when he returns from a tour in Europe. His 
direct taxes are paid to officials acting under State laws. 
The State, or a local authority constituted by State stat¬ 
utes, registers his birth, appoints his guardian, pays for 
his schooling, gives him a share in the estate of his father 
deceased, licenses him when he enters a trade (if it be one 
needing a license), marries him, divorces him, entertains 
civil actions against him, declares him a bankrupt, hangs 
him for murder. The police that guard his house, the 
local boards which look after the poor, control highways, 
impose water-rates, manage schools—all these derive their 
legal powers from his State alone.^’ ^ It is obviously more 
important for the citizen to l)e familiar with the govern¬ 
ment of his State than with that of the nation. 

64. Citizen and Elector.—A citizen is a member of a 
body politic bound to allegiance and entitled to protec¬ 
tion. The United States Constitution, in the Fourteenth 
Amendment, provides that All persons born or natural¬ 
ized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State 
wherein they reside.’^ With this limitation, a State can 
define its own citizenship. Some States admit foreigners 
to citizenship after only six months’ residence. In Geor¬ 
gia only citizens of the United States residing in the State 
are declared citizens. 

An elector is a citizen who has the right to vote. The 
State has full power to fix the right of suffrage with two 
restrictions under the Federal Constitution: The right to 
vote may not be withheld on account of race, color, or 


1 Bryce: American Commonicealth, Vol. I., p. 411. 




02 • THE CIVIL aOVERyMEyT OF GEORGIA 

previous condition of servitude; ’’ and voters at congres¬ 
sional elections must have the qualifications requisite for 
electors of the most numerous branch of the State legisla¬ 
ture.” The Constitution of the State prescribes the quali¬ 
fications of electors.^ 

65. The State Government.—The government of Geor¬ 
gia is vested by the Constitution in three co-ordinate de¬ 
partments—the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. 

THE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT 

66. The Legislative Power of the State is vested in a 
General Assembly, consisting of a Senate and a House of 
Representatives. 

67. The General Assembly or Legislature is composed 
of members chosen at the general State election held on 
the first Wednesday of October of every even-numbered 
year. It meets annually in the Capitol at Atlanta. The 
session begins on the fourth Wednesday in June, and is 
limited to fifty days, including Sundays. It is vested 
by authority of the people with power to make such laws 
as it may deem necessary and proper for their welfare. 
These laws deal with all the relations of residents of the 
State with the State government, and with nearly all their 
ordinary actions and business relations with one another. 
The creation and regulation of local governments, the 
organization of courts of law, the prevention and punish¬ 
ment of crime, the execution of contracts, the establish¬ 
ment and support of schools, the control of taxation, and 
many matters of similar importance affecting the daily life 
of the people, fall within their scope. 

The General Assembly can make no laws in conflict 
with the Constitution of the United States, or with that 


iSee Art. II, fleets. I and 11. 




THE CAPITOL AT ATLANTA, GA 


g;3 





















64 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


of the State. The State Constitution further lays a num¬ 
ber of express limitations on its power.^ 

It is chaiged with the proper division of the State into 
congressional, senatorial and judicial districts, and with 
the decennial apportionment of representatives among the 
counties. It elects in joint session Georgia’s two United 
States senators, following the popular choice expressed in 
the primary elections. 

The Constitution prescribes the qualifications of mem¬ 
bers, but each branch of the General Assemblv is judge 
of the election and eligibility of those belonging to it. 
Each branch establishes its own rules, and has power to 
punish or expel a member for misconduct. Members are 
exempt from arrest during the session and while on their 
way to and from the capital, except for treason, felony, lar¬ 
ceny or breach of the peace. The pay of members is four 
dollars a day and a mileage allowance of ten cents per 
mile each way. The president of the Senate and the 
speaker of the House receive seven dollars a day and 
mileage. Neither house can adjourn for more than three 
days, nor to any different place, without the consent of 
the other. A majority of each house constitutes a quo¬ 
rum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day 
and compel the attendance of absentees. Each house is 
required to keep a journal of its proceedings, which is 
published after adjournment. 

68. The Senate.—The Senate consists of forty-four 
members. The State is divided into the same number 
of senatorial districts, composed of three or four counties 
each.2 The General Assembly may change these districts 

i8ee Art. Ill, Sleet. VII, Art. IV, Sect. II, etc. 

2 See Art. Ill, Sec. II, par. 1. 




TEE STATE aOVEEXMEXT 


G5 


after each United States census, but may not increase tlieir 
number. One senator is elected by the voters of each dis¬ 
trict for a term of two years. In practice the senatorship 
is usually given in rotation to each county in the district. 

The Senate is organized at the opening of each session 
of the General Assembly by the viva voce election of one 
of its members as president. A secretary, not a member, 
is similarly elected, and has power to appoint assistants; 
he is allowed sixty dollars per day for all clerical expenses. 
The president appoints the various standing committees 
of the Senate. A president jiro tempore is chosen to pre¬ 
side in his absence.' 

The confirmation of the Senate is necessary in all im¬ 
portant appointments by the governor, and it has the sole 
power to try impeachments. It thus has a share in both 
executive and judicial power. In impeachments the chief 
justice or some judge of the supreme court presides, and a 
two-thirds vote is necessary to convict. 

Minor officers are a doorkeeper and messenger, elected 
by a majority vote, and receiving the pay of members. 
No one is eligible to the Senate who has not resided four 
years in the State and one in the district, and who is not 
at least twenty-five years of age. 

69. The House of Representatives is composed of one 
hundred and eighty-four members, apportioned among 
the several counties of the State according to the follow¬ 
ing rule: After each United States census the six counties 
having the largest population are given three representa¬ 
tives each; the twenty-six counties having the next largest 
population are given two each; and the remaining one 
hundred and fourteen counties are assigned one each. 
When the system was adopted it gave a representation 


5—Ga. 


66 


THE CIVIL CfOVERXME^^T OF CEORCIA 


fairly proportional to population, but the inequalities are 
now striking. It is especially unfair to the inhabitants of 
the larger cities.^ 

The presiding officer, called the Speaker, is chosen viva 
voce from the members at the first meeting. His duties 
include the appointment of all standing and other com¬ 
mittees except those specially ordered by the House, and 
the signing of all bills passed by the House. The great 
infiuence of committees on legislation makes the office of 
speaker a most important one. The House has the sole 
right to institute impeachments, and to originate bills for 
raising revenue or appropriating money. 

A clerk is elected, by a majority vote, who appoints as¬ 
sistants and is allowed seventy dollars per day for all 
clerical work. A messenger and doorkeeper are similarly 
elected, and receive the pay of members. Eepresentatives 
must be over twenty-one years of age, and of at least two 
years’ residence in the State and one in the county. 

70. Law-making.—A proposed law originates as a 

bill ” introduced by a member of either house of the 
General Assembly. The bill must contain but one sub¬ 
ject, clearly expressed in its title, and must be read on 
three different days in each house. It is usually referred 
after its first reading to the appropriate one of the various 
standing committees into which both houses are organized. 
The report of these committees usually decides the fate 
of the bills referred to them; their work is of great im¬ 
portance in guiding and facilitating legislation. Karely, 
when time presses, a bill is engrossed and passed to its 
second reading without reference to a committee. 

On report of the committee to which a bill has been 

1 E. g., Fulton county, containing the city of Atlanta with 
over 100,000 people, can be out-voted in the House by four small 
counties with an aggregate population of 15,000. 



THE STATE OOVERXMENT 


C7 

referred, it is engrossed and read a second time. If the 
report is unfavorable the bill is debatable on second read¬ 
ing and is likely to go no further. In practice the first 
two readings are by title only. 

On the third reading the bill is discussed and debated, 
and the vote of the House taken. If it receives a majority 
of votes of all members elected it is sent to the other house, 
where the same process is repeated. If amended, it must 
be returned to the house in which it originated, for con¬ 
currence. A joint committee of the two houses is some¬ 
times appointed to compromise differences. 

When both houses have passed the bill the ‘^enrolled 
copy is made and signed by tlieir presiding officers. It 
is then entered on the journals and sent to the governor 
for his approval. If he signs it the bill becomes a law. 
If he does not approve it he vetoes ’’ it, returning it with 
his objections to the house originating it. His veto may 
bo overruled by a two-thirds vote of both houses. If he 
neither signs it nor returns the bill within five days, it 
becomes a law, unless the General Assembly has adjourned 
in the interim. In the latter case the bill is defeated—a 
process known as a “ pocket veto.’’ 


THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT 

71. The Executive Power is vested by the Constitution 
in a governor, a secretary of State, a comptroller-general 
and a treasurer. The attorney-general, and various officers 
and boards created by the General Assembly for adminis¬ 
trative purposes, properly belong to this department. All 
the above-named officers are elected for terms of two years 
at the State election on the first Wednesday in October of 
even-numbered years. 

72. The Governor.—The supreme executive officer of 


G8 THE CIVIL GOVERXMEyr OF GEORGIA 

the State is the governor. Tt is his duty to see that the 
laws are faithfully executed, and to exercise a general 
supervision over the interests and property of the State. 
He must inform the General Assembly from time to time 
of the condition of the Commonwealth, and recommend 
such measures as he may deem necessary or expedient. 
He has a general control of the executive departments, 
and may require of their heads written reports under 
oath. His signature is necessary to all legislation requir¬ 
ing the concurrence of both houses, and he may veto any 
bill which he does not approve. He may veto any part 
of a bill appropriating money, and approve other parts of 
the same bill. He may convene the General Assembly for 
special purposes on extraordinary occasions; and if the 
two houses disagree as to adjournment, may adjourn them 
for any time, not over four months, that he may think 
proper. 

The governor has power to remit fines, and to reprieve, 
pardon or commute the sentence of persons convicted of 
crime against the State, except in cases of treason and 
impeachment. He appoints, with the consent of the Sen¬ 
ate, a number of important officers, including the judges 
and solicitors of the city and county courts, officers of 
militia, and the trustees of the University of Georgia 
and of various educational and charitable institutions. 
He has the absolute appointment of the secretaries and 
clerks ^ of the executive office, the State librarian, guards 
of the capitol and grounds, and of various minor officials. 
In most elective offices he has power to fill vacancies. He 
is commander-in-chief of all military and naval forces of 
the State, except when they are called into the service of 

1 The governor is allowed two secretaries and such additional 
clerical force as his office may require, the total cost not to ex¬ 
ceed six thousand dollars per annum. 



THE ETATE GOVERyME^T 69 

the United States. His warrant is necessary for the pay¬ 
ment of money from the treasury. 

it is the duty of the governor to cause the arrest of 
fugitives from justice from without the limits of the State, 
and upon formal requisition to have them delivered to the 
proper authorities. He may be re-elected, but after a 
second term is not again eligible for four years. His sal¬ 
ary is $5000, an executive mansion being provided in ad¬ 
dition. He must be at the time of election at least thirty 
years of age, and must have been a citizen of the United 
States for fifteen, and of Georgia for six years. Georgia 
differs from a majority of the States in having no lieu¬ 
tenant-governor. In case of the death or resignation of the 
chief executive, the duties of his office devolve upon the 
president of the Senate, the speaker of the House being 
next in succession. A special election for governor must 
then be called after thirty and before sixty days have 
elapsed. 

73. State Officers.—The secretary of State, comptrol¬ 
ler-general, treasurer and attorney-general are chosen by 
the electors at the same time and for the same term as the 
governor, by whom they are commissioned. The salary 
of the attorney-general is $3000; the others receive $2000 
per annum each, with allowances for clerical expenses. 
No person is eligible to these offices unless he has been a 
citizen of the United States for ten years and of Georgia 
for six, and is at least twenty-five years of age. Each of 
these officers is denied any fees or compensation other than 
his salary; and each must give bond for the faithful dis¬ 
charge of his duty. 

74. The Secretary of State is charged with the cus¬ 
tody of the Great Seal of the State, the original acts and 
joii^-nals of the General Assembly, and the preservation 
of all public records and State papers not pertaining 


70 THE CIVIL GOVER^^MEIVT OF GEORGIA 

specially to other offices. It is his duty to attest and affix 
the seal to all grants and public documents issuing from 
the executive; to keep safely all bonds of agents appointed 
to disburse public money; to make arrangements for the 
meetings of the General Assembly; and to provide the 
ordinaries with printed forms of election returns, certifi¬ 
cates and directions. The granting of certain charters of 
incorporation is placed in his charge; namely, to banking, 
insurance, railroad, canal, navigation, express and tele¬ 
graph companies. 

Since the consolidation of his office with that of sur¬ 
veyor-general he has been further required to keep correct 
maps of the various surveys made by State authority, 
with records of all plats of land surveyed or granted by 
the State, and to register the several grantees, with the 
dates of grants. 

75. The State Treasurer is required to receive and 
keep safely all money due the State, giving certificates 
therefor, which are lodged as vouchers in the comptroller’s 
office; and to pay it out only on warrants of the governor 
countersigned by the comptroller-general, or on drafts of 
the president of the Senate or speaker of the House for 
sums due the members and officers of the General As¬ 
sembly. He must manage and control the funds pledged 
to the public debt and to other special purposes, and see 
that they are not drawn upon for any other object. He 
advises the governor in the selection of banks to serve as 
depositories of the public funds—the cities in which they 
must be located being designated by statute. 

The treasurer must keep a full and accurate set of 
books showing all receipts and expenditures, and must 
make a quarterly report to the governor of all transac¬ 
tions of the treasury. Before each annual session of the 
General Assembly he must submit to the governor a de- 


THE STATE GOVER]:^MEIAT 


71 


tailed estimate of the probable receipts and expenditares 
for the next fiscal year. His bond is $200,000. 

Since the establishment in 1907 of a Bank Bureau 
in the treasury department, the treasurer has been ex-officio 
State bank examiner, charged with the enforcement of the 
banking laws of the State, and with the general supervi¬ 
sion of all companies doing a banking business. For this 
service he receives $2500 a year, and is authorized to ap¬ 
point one or more assistant bank examiners, with such 
clerical force as may be necessary, whose salaries, together 
with his extra compensation, are prorated upon the banks 
in proportion to their capital. 

76. The Comptroller-General is charged with a mul¬ 
tiplicity of duties. He audits the accounts of all agents 
disbursing public money, and all accounts against the 
State. He must examine and countersign all warrants 
upon the treasury drawn by the governor, and with the 
treasurer is liable for illegal payments made on warrants 
so countersigned. 

He has general oversight of the State revenues and their 
collection. He prescribes rules for the tax officers; furn¬ 
ishes the blank forms used by the tax receivers; examines 
the digests of tax returns; issues executions against de¬ 
faulting tax collectors; allows the commissions of tax re¬ 
ceivers and collectors; and preserves the record of their 
bonds. He receives directly the tax returns of certain 
corporations, such as railroad, express and insurance com¬ 
panies ; and if he deems them insufficient may raise the as¬ 
sessment, upon which the company, if dissa’tisfied, may 
resort to arbitration. He collects unpaid taxes of previous 
years. He secures evidences of debts due the State from 
any other source than taxation. And it is his duty to de¬ 
vise and suggest improvements in the revenue laws. 

His office must preserve records of all appropriations 


72 THE CIVIL GOVERNMEyT OF GEORGIA^ 

authorized by law; a book of all bonds taken, with a file 
of the original bonds; a list of all wild lands in each 
county; and must prepare tables of taxable property, polls, 
voters, school children, and other statistics pertaining to 
his office for the use of the General Assembly. 

He is ex-officio the State insurance commissioner, issues 
licenses to all insurance companies, and has general super¬ 
vision of the execution of the laws governing insurance. 

The comptroller-general, secretary of State, and treas¬ 
urer constitute the board of public printing. 

The comptroller’s office is provided with a clerk, a clerk 
of wild lands, and an insurance clerk, whose aggregate 
salaries are $4000. 

In addition to the statistical report to the General As¬ 
sembly, he must make quarterly and annual reports to the 
governor, showing all receipts and payments; taxes, paid 
and in default, of each county; debts due the State; the 
condition of the educational fun^ and public debt; the 
accounts of all disbursing agents; salaries of all public 
officers; and all other payments. 

77. The Attorney-General is ranked by the Constitu¬ 
tion under the judicial department, but he is more prop¬ 
erly an executive officer. He is the legal adviser of the 
executive department. He draws up contracts and legal 
papers in which the State is interested. He represents 
the State in the supreme court in capital felonies, and in 
any court, in both civil and criminal cases, when required 
by the governor. He is provided with a clerk at $1200. 

78. The State School Commissioner is elected by 
the people for a term of two years. His duties, which in 
general are to direct and further the educational interests 
of the State, are considered in detail in the chapter on 
Public Education. 

79. The Commissioner of Agriculture.—In 1874 the 


THE STATE GOVE RAM ENT 


73 


General Assembly established a department of agriculture, 
whose powers and functions liave been enlarged by sub¬ 
sequent statutes. It is directed by a commissioner, elected 
by the people for a term of two years. His salary is $3000, 
with allowance for clerical assistance. He is given $10,000 
a year, exclusive of salaries, to defray expenses. The du¬ 
ties of the commissioner are to aid and develop the agri¬ 
cultural interests of the State; to collect and publish farm 
and crop statistics; to disseminate knowledge useful to 
farmers upon the culture of crops, the structure of soils, 
iri’igation, dairy farming, the diseases of plants, destruc¬ 
tive insects, and similar subjects. He is charged with the 
inspection of cattle, and their protection against contagi¬ 
ous diseases. He is also charged with the protection and 
propagation of fish, and is given the appointment of a su¬ 
perintendent of fisheries, and of fish wardens. 

A special department of horticulture and pomology was 
created in 1897 as a division of the department of agri¬ 
culture, to promote the fruit and vegetable interests of the 
State. An important part of its work consists in prevent¬ 
ing and checking the ravages of insect and fungus pests. 
For this purpose a State entomologist is appointed by the 
commissioner, at a salary of $1500, with an allowance of 
$3500 for expenses. The commissioner of agriculture and 
the presidents of State Agricultural and State Horticul¬ 
tural Societies are constituted a State Board of Entomol- 
ogy, with power to enact and enforce such regulations as 
they may deem necessary to prevent the introduction and 
spread of noxious insects and plant diseases. 

The commissioner of agriculture is further charged 
with the inspection of commercial fertilizers and illumi¬ 
nating oils. For the former purpose he appoints a State 
chemist at a salary of $3000, who is allowed two assistants 
at $1000, together with a chief clerk of the fertilizer de- 


74 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMEVT OF GEORGIA 


partment at $1800 and the necessary number of inspectors, 
who are paid $83 a month. Oil inspectors are similarly 
appointed, the chief oil inspector receiving $1200, the 
others in proportion to the fees they collect. All fees in 
excess of specified expenses are accounted for by the com¬ 
missioner and turned into the treasury. 

Annual and quarterly reports covering all the activities 
of the department must be made to the governor. 

80. Railroad Commissioners.—To secure fairness and 
impartiality in the dealings of railroad corporations with 
the people of the State a commission was organized in 
1879. In 1907 its power and jurisdiction were radically 
enlarged, and its authority extended over terminal sta¬ 
tions and companies, docks and wharves, street railways, 
telegraphs and telephones, cotton compresses, gas com¬ 
panies and electric light and power companies. It now 
consists of five members, elected by the people. The term 
is six years, and at least one member is chosen at each 
biennial general election. The salary is $2500, but the 
chairman, who is appointed by the board itself, for a two- 
year term, receives $4000. The commissioners are pro¬ 
vided with an office at the capital, a secretary at $2000, a 
stenographer at $1200, and are allowed a contingent ex¬ 
pense fund of $3000 and a printing fund of $2000 a year. 
An attorney to the commission is appointed by the gov¬ 
ernor at a salary of $2500, for a four-year term, but is re¬ 
movable at pleasure. Expert advice as to rates and charges 
may be employed at an extra cost not exceeding $4000 a 
year. The aggregate provision for the commission thus 
amounts to $28,700 a year. 

The general purpose of the commission is to require pub¬ 
lic service corporations to establish and maintain such ser¬ 
vices, facilities and rates as are reasonable and just. Tlie 
commissioners may act either on complaint of aggrieved 


THE STATE GOVERNMENT 


75 


parties or on their own initiative; by general rules, or 
special orders. They are clothed with full power to in¬ 
spect the books, papers and offices of the companies con¬ 
cerned, to examine witnesses, and to exact any desired 
information. They may prescribe uniform methods of 
keeping books and accounts. They are provided by suit¬ 
able penalties with power to enforce their orders. They 
make semi-annual reports to the governor, and recommend 
such legislation in their sphere of activity as they deem 
advisable. 

81. Prison Commissioners.—In 1897 the General As¬ 
sembly inaugurated a new system of maintaining and 
caring for State convicts, which has been modified and 
extended by subsequent statutes. A prison commission 
of three members elected by the people for a term of six 
years, is charged with the management and control of 
convicts. One commissioner is chosen at each general 
election; the salary is $2000, and they are provided with 
an office in the capitol, a clerk at $1200, and an allowance 
for travelling and office expenses. They are constituted a 
board of pardons, to make recommendations to the gov¬ 
ernor on applications for executive clemency or on their 
own initiative. 

Female convicts, boys under fifteen, and aged, infirm, 
or diseased convicts, are kept on prison farms located ac¬ 
cording to the judgment of the commission, where they 
are properly housed and cared for and provided with such 
work as they are able to perform. 

Able-bodied male convicts are divided into two classes, 
the short-term, under sentence for five years or less, and 
the long-term, sentenced for more than five years. The 
short-term convicts are apportioned among the several 
counties of the State in proportion to population. Coun¬ 
ties desiring to rc^ceivc their quota for labor upon the coun- 


76 


THE CIVIL OOVERIsMEET OF GEORGIA 


ty roads or i)ublic works, make application to the com¬ 
mission in writing. These applications are tiled, and the 
counties are furnished their quotas in order of applica¬ 
tion. No county may apply that does not work its own 
misdemeanor convicts on the public roads. 

Long-term convicts, and any short-term convicts not 
applied for by the counties, are advertised to be leased to 
the highest bidder in groups of not less than twenty-five 
or more than fifty, though more than one bid may be made 
by the same applicant. 

The maintenance of the convicts must be according to 
regulations laid down by the commission, who prescribe 
the variety and quality of their food, the character of 
their clothing, and such other details as insure their safe¬ 
keeping and proper care. Transportation, food, clothing, 
medicine and all charges except guards and physicians, 
must be borne by the county or lessee. 

The revenue from the hire of convicts is divided among 
the counties that do not apply for, or do not receive, their 
quota of laborers. The division is in proportion to popula¬ 
tion, and the sum received must be applied either to the 
public schools or public roads, as determined by the grand 
jury of the county. 

82. Other Officers, Boards and Commissions have 
been created at different times by the General Assembly, 
and discharged duties more or less administrative in their 
character. Their names usually indicate their purpose 
and function. Among the more important may be men¬ 
tioned the commissioner of pensions; the State geologist; 
the State board of health; the boards of trustees of the 
State University, the Institute of Technology, the Indus¬ 
trial and Normal College, and other educational founda¬ 
tions; and the trustees of public charitable institutions, 


TEE STATE GOVERNMENT H7 

such as the State Lunatic Asylum, the Blind Asylum, and 
the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. 

83. The Militia.—The Constitution empowers the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly to provide for the organization of the State 
militia, and to determine its membership. It has been 
accordingly decreed that all men between the ages of 
twenty-one and forty-five years, unless exempted by law, 
are subject to military duty whenever called upon by the 
State. These constitute the unorganized militia, in dis¬ 
tinction to the volunteer forces, composed of men who 
enlist for training and active service. 

In 1903 the Federal government adopted a measure to 
secure uniformity and promote the efficiency of the militia 
throughout the country, which provides a liberal annual 
appropriation for the equipment and training of the vol¬ 
unteer forces in those States which conform their military 
organization to the national plan, and authorize the Presi¬ 
dent in certain contingencies to call their forces into the 
service of the United States. To secure the benefits of this 
Act, the General Assembly in 1907 reorganized the greater 
part of the active militia into a division designated the 
National Guard of Georgia, officered and organized in con¬ 
formity with the practice of the regular United States 
army. The volunteer forces not included in the National 
Guard consist of the governor’s staff, the naval militia, 
and the retired list. The governor is commander-in-chief, 
but appoints an adjutant-general who is his chief of staff, 
and practically the executive head in military affairs. The 
adjutant-general is the medium of communication between 
the governor and the officers of the volunteer forces, and 
the custodian of all military records of the State. The 
governor also appoints a quartermaster-general who has 
charge of all military property and stores. These two 
officers are stationed at the capital, and are the only 


78 


THE CTTIL GOVERyMEXT OF GEORGIA 


officers of tlie volunteer forces wlio draw salaries in time 
of peace. Various other members of the governor’s staff 
with their respective duties are prescribed by law. About 
twenty-five thousand dollars a year is appropriated for the 
maintenance of the military organization. 

In 1893 a naval militia was established by the General 
Assembly, and provision was made for several companies, 
constituting the Naval Militia of Georgia. 


THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT 

84. The Judicial Power of the State is vested by the 
Constitution in a supreme court, a court of appeals, supe¬ 
rior courts, county and city courts, courts of ordinary, jus¬ 
tices of the peace, commissioned notaries public, and such 
other courts as may be established by the General Assem¬ 
bly. 

85. The Supreme Court.—The highest judicial author¬ 
ity of the State is the supreme court. It consists of six 
judges—a chief justice and five associate justices—elected 
by the people for terms of six years, two being elected 
each alternate year. In case of a vacancy the governor 
appoints a judge to serve until the regularly chosen suc¬ 
cessor is qualified. 

The supreme court has no original jurisdiction, nor 
power to hear facts or to examine witnesses. Its object 
is to decide cases appealed from the superior courts on 
writs of error, and to determine the points of law involved. 
It also decides all questions of constitutional construction 
sent up from the court of appeals. It thus plays an im¬ 
portant part in the application and interpretation of the 
law; and its decisions become precedents for all similar 
cases. The justices may sit in a body or in two divisions 
of three each. A majority opinion constitutes the deci- 


THE ETATE GOVERN'MENT 


sion of the court, from which there is no appeal unless the 
case involves the Federal laws or Constitution, when it may 
be taken to one of the United States courts, and, by succes¬ 
sive appeals, may even reach the supreme court at Wash¬ 
ington. The Constitution requires that every case be dis¬ 
posed of at the first or second term after the writ of error 
is brought—a provision which tends to sacrifice delibera¬ 
tion to expedition. 

The supreme court holds two terms each year, beginning 
on the first Mondays in October and March. The sessions 
are in Atlanta. The officers of the court, all appointed by 
the justices, are a clerk, a reporter and assistant, stenogra¬ 
phers, a sheriff and deputies. The clerk keeps a record 
of the minutes and judicial proceedings of the court, ar¬ 
ranges the docket, collects costs, and discharges various 
similar duties. His term is six years and his salary $4000. 
The reporter abstracts and arranges for publication the 
decisions of the court. The assistant has the same duties. 
They receive $2000 each. The three stenographers are 
paid $1500 each. The sheriff preserves order and executes 
the commands and processes of the court. He is paid 
$1000 and fees. The salary of the justices is $4000 each. 
No one is eligible to the office unless he has practised law 
for seven years, is thirty years of age, and has lived in the 
State for three years. 

86. The Court of Appeals.—In 1906 a court of ap¬ 
peals was established to relieve the pressure of work in 
the supreme court. It has three judges, elected as the su¬ 
preme court justices, and with the same term, qualifica^ 
tions and salary. The judges appoint a clerk, sheriff, 
and stenographers, with the duties and pay of the same 
officers of the supreme court; the reporters of the supreme 
court act as reporters of the court of appeals. 

Its jurisdiction includes the trial and correction of er- 


80 


THE CIVIL GOVERVMEI^^T OF GEORGIA 


rors from the city courts, and from the superior courts 
in all cases in which jurisdiction is not conferred by the 
constitution on the supreme court. If, however, any ques¬ 
tion arises involving the construction of the constitution 
of the State or of the United States, it must be referred to 
the supreme court for decision. 

87. The Superior Courts.—The State is divided into 
twenty-five judicial circuits, composed of from one to ten 
counties each. In every circuit there is a superior court 
judge, elected by the people for a term of four years. 
About half of these judges are chosen every second (even) 
year. Their terms begin on January 1st after election. 
Each receives a salary of $3000. A superior court judge 
has a jurisdiction extending over the State, and may hold 
sessions in any circuit. 

The superior courts have exclusive jurisdiction in cases 
of divorce; in criminal cases where the offender is sub¬ 
jected to loss of life, or imprisonment in the penitentiary; 
in cases respecting titles to land; and in equity cases. 
They have general jurisdiction in all civil cases and appel¬ 
late jurisdiction from lower courts. They grant all char¬ 
ters of incorporation, except those issued by the secretary 
of state. The court must sit at least twice a year in each 
county at times prescribed by the General Assembly. The 
qualifications of judges are the same as those of justices 
of the supreme court. 

There is a superior court clerk in each county of the 
circuit. He is essentially a local officer and his duties 
will be considered elsewhere. A receiver is a person spe¬ 
cially appointed by a superior court judge to take charge 
of property in litigation. He is considered an officer of 
the court and is subject to its orders. 

88 . The Solicitor-General.—In each judicial cir¬ 
cuit an attorney represents the interests of the State. He 


TUE STATE aOVERyMETs^T 


81 


is called the solicitor-general and is chosen in the same way 
and for the same term as the judge. His duties require 
him to be present at all sessions of the superior court; to 
attend the grand jury, giving it legal advice, administering 
necessary oaths, and examining witnesses before it; to 
draw up indictments for the grand jury; to prosecute all 
indictable offences; and to prosecute or defend any civil 
action in which the State is interested. He attends before 
the higher courts any criminal case appealed from his cir¬ 
cuit. He collects certain moneys arising from fines, 
costs, forfeited recognizances and other claims of the State 
and turns them over to the proper authorities. The qual¬ 
ifications of the office are rosiflonce in the circuit, three 
years’ citizenship, three years’ law practice, and twenty- 
five years of age. The pay is $250 a year and fees. 


CHAPTEK IV 


THE COUNTY AND THE MILITIA DISTRICT 

THE COUNTY 

89. County and Township.—Of all our institutions 
those closest to the people are the most deeply rooted in 
the past. Each commonplace and familiar officer—the 
sheriff, justice of the peace, constable, coroner—is the 
legacy of a long and interesting historical development. 
When our ancestors first settled in America they repro¬ 
duced most of the forms of local government which their 
English life and traditions had made familiar. All were 
more or less modified in the passage across sea, and differ¬ 
ent forms took root in different colonies; but in one place 
or another the county, manor, parish, township and hun¬ 
dred were introduced. Eventually, however, all passed 
out of use except the county and township.^ The town¬ 
ship prevailed in its most vigorous form in New England. 
There the rigorous climate, hostile Indians, and the re¬ 
ligious organization of the colonists combined to produce 
small, compact settlements, where each lived within easy 
reach of the others for mutual protection and assistance. 
The congregation of each church practically constituted 
the members of the township, the limits of which were 
determined by the extent of a convenient walk to church. 
All townsmen took part in the town meeting, which dealt 

1 Delaware still lias “ hundreds,” and Louisiana “ parishes,” 
but they are practically counties. 

82 



THE COTjyTY AXD THE MILITIA DISTRICT 


83 


with matters of local government and taxation, and elected 
officers who carried out its decrees. The township thus 
constituted the unit of political life, and the county, 
formed of an aggregate of townships, had but little activ¬ 
ity in local administration. 

In the Southern States opposite conditions prevailed. 
The mild climate and numerous broad waterways led to 
widely scattered settlement. Large plantations covered 
wide stretches of country. The majority of the people 
were comparatively isolated in their manner of living, 
and the conditions were unsuited to township govern¬ 
ment. The political unit therefore became the county, 
covering a considerable area, with a government concen¬ 
trated in the hands of officers and judges appointed by 
the colonial governor, in marked contrast to the self-gov¬ 
erning primary assemblies of New England. In the Mid¬ 
dle States a mixed system grew up, with townships less 
active than those of New England, and counties exercising 
fewer functions than tliose in the South. The form pre¬ 
vailing in the original colonies generally spread to the 
regions west of them as population advanced and new 
territory was settled. 

In recent years some of the Southern States have shown 
a tendency to introduce a modified form of the township, 
chiefly in connection with the organization of the school 
districts. 

90. County Organization.—The State of Georgia is 
divided into one hundred and forty-six counties. Each 
has an organized government, with powers derived from 
the State government, to which it is subordinate. These 
powers are mainly administrative and judicial; but little 
law-making power is vested in county authorities. The 
controlling power of the State can be exercised only in 
the enforcement before the courts of general laws and 
0—Ga. 


84 


THE CIVIL OOVERyMEXT OF GEORGIA 


charters; no central administrative officer has power to 
interfere in county affairs. 

Without constitutional amendment, no new county can 
be created; but any county may be dissolved and merged 
into the contiguous counties by a two-thirds vote of its 
electors. County lines may be altered under the provi¬ 
sions of a general law.. Each county is endowed with 
corporate capacity to sue and be sued; to hold property; 
and to make contracts. Its debt, however, may not exceed 
seven per cent, of the assessed valuation of its taxable 
property. All county officers and tril)unals must be uni¬ 
form tliroughout the State, except tlie hoards of county 
commissioners. County officers are elected hy the voters 
of the county for terms of two years, and to be eligible 
must have two years’ residence in the county. Every 
county is divided according to territory and population 
into militia districts, each of which must contain men 
enough to form one company, with a minimum force of 
forty, including officers. 

91. The County-Seat is the place where the court¬ 
house, jail, and offices of the county authorities are situ¬ 
ated. It is usually the most important town or village in 
the county; but sometimes a less prominent central site is 
chosen for convenience. The county-seat may be changed 
by the General Assembly at the desire of two-thirds of the 
voters as shown in a special election. 

92. The Ordinary.—The most important and interest¬ 
ing officer of the county is the ordinary. He is charged 
with a great multiplicity of duties. His functions are 
primarily judicial. The court of ordinary has inherited 
much of the jurisdiction and procedure of its ecclesias¬ 
tical prototype in England. The court’s jurisdiction is 
exclusive in all matters concerning the prohate of wills: 
the granting of letters testamentary and of administra- 


THE COUNTY AND THE MILITIA DISTRICT 


85 


tion; executorship; guardianship; and commissions of 
lunacy. The court is held monthly at the county-seat, 
beginning on the first Monday of each month. 

The ordinary is further, by virtue of his office, clerk of 
his own court; though he may at his own expense appoint 
one or more clerks, for whom he is responsible. As clerk 
tlie ordinary must give bond for the faithful discharge of 
the following duties: The issuance of legal papers and 
processes of the court of ordinary; granting marriage li¬ 
censes; recording homestead exemptions; keeping records 
of wills, of letters of administration and guardianship, 
of the annual returns of guardians, executors, and ad¬ 
ministrators; and, in general, the preservation of all doc¬ 
uments and records connected with the duties and juris¬ 
diction of the ordinary. 

The constant presence of the ordinary at the county- 
seat, charged with the custody of important records, made 
him a convenient and responsible person to whom the con¬ 
trol of various county matters might be committed. These 
accumulated and gradually became an important part of 
his duty. He is now the chief administrative officer. 
The ordinary sitting for county affairs has general direc¬ 
tion and control of all the property of the county. He 
levies all general and special county taxes. He has power 
to establish, alter or abolish all county roads, bridges and 
ferries; to establish and change election precincts and mili¬ 
tia districts; and to appoint to vacancies in county offices. 
He examines and audits the accounts of officers holding 
or disbursing county money; settles claims against the 
county; regulates and licenses peddling; and provides for 
the relief of the poor, the maintenance of the county po¬ 
lice, and county sanitation. He is charged with certain 
other miscellaneous duties, such as the approval of the 
bonds of county officers; the appointment of persons to 


86 


TEE CIVIL GOVERNME^ T OF GEORGIA 


discharge trusts authorized by his powers; and the pen¬ 
sioning of Confederate veterans. The ordinary is elected 
by the qualified voters of the county at alternate county 
elections. His term of office is four years, beginning 
January 1st after election. 

93. County Commissioners.—The General Assembly 
may create, in any county desiring it, an executive board 
to exercise the administrative powers of the ordinary. 
The number of members, powers, term of office, mode of 
election, pay and other details differ in various counties, 
and are fixed by the special act creating the board. The 
members are called commissioners of roads and revenues. 
In such counties the ordinary discharges only the duties 
of judge and clerk of the court of ordinary and such ad¬ 
ministrative functions as have not been conferred upon 
the commissioners. 

94. The County Court is a court of record having 
jurisdiction in all civil cases not expressly reserved for 
the superior court where the sum claimed does not exceed 
five hundred dollars, and in all cnminal cases not involv¬ 
ing punishment by death or the penitentiary. The judge 
is appointed for a term of four years by the governor with 
the advice of the Senate. His salary is fixed by the grand 
jury and cannot be changed during his term of office. He 
is clerk of his own court, but may at his own expense ap¬ 
point a deputy clerk. Monthly sessions are held at the 
county court-house for minor cases, and quarterly sessions 
for those of more importance. There is no jury in civil 
cases, and in criminal cases only when demanded by the 
accused. Appeals lie to the superior court. A bailiff 
may be appointed by the judge. 

The solicitor of the county court is appointed, like the 
judge, for four years. He is the prosecuting officer of the 
county, and defends it when sued. 


THE COUN TY AND THE MILITIA DISTRICT 


87 


95. City Courts have been created in a number of 
counties in place of county courts. The main ditference 
is an enlarged jurisdiction, extending to much greater 
sums. Appeals lie, not to the superior, but direct to the 
court of appeals. Judges and solicitors are appointed as 
in county courts. A^ariations in detail are made by the 
special acts of the General Assembly creating these courts. 

96. The Superior Court Clerk is an important county 
officer chosen at the regular county elections for a two 
years’ term. He is commissioned by the governor, and 
must give bond for $3000; his office is at the court-house 
of the county-seat. He attends all sessions of the supe¬ 
rior court held in his county; keeps minutes of its pro¬ 
ceedings; issues and signs the various writs and orders of 
the court; records decisions; and keeps dockets of the dif¬ 
ferent classes of cases before the court. One of his most 
important duties is to keep all records of transfers of real 
estate and of personal property. He must preserve all 
records and documents of the court and keep them access¬ 
ible to public inspection. 

97. The Sheriff.—The sheriff in the days before the 
Norman conquest was the representative of royal author¬ 
ity in the English shire. Under the administrative sys¬ 
tem of the Norman kings he became the chief executive 
officer of the county, and wielded great power. This was 
first curtailed by Henry II., and was gradually lessened 
by successive diminutions until only the shadow was left. 
The office is now in England merely a formal and ceremo¬ 
nious distinction, annually conferred as a compliment upon 
one of the prominent and propertied men of each county. 

In the United States the sheriff is practically the min¬ 
isterial officer of the county, executing the processes and 
orders of the courts. In Georgia he is elected for a term 
of two years. He must attend all sessions of the superior 


88 


THE CIVIL GOVER^’MEyT OF GEORGIA 


and county (or city) courts, and, when required, of the 
court of ordinary, and carry out their processes. He has 
charge of all elections in the county, and must be present 
in person or by deputy from the opening to the closing of 
the polls. He levies upon and offers at public sale the 
property of delinquent tax-payers and others under pro¬ 
cess of court. He is jailer of the county and is charged 
with the custody and maintenance of prisoners, and with 
the execution of capital sentences. He is keeper of the 
peace of the county, and in case of necessity may call 
upon the citizens to aid him as a posse comitatus. As his 
duties require him to handle considerable sums of public 
money, he must give heavy bond. He may appoint depu¬ 
ties and jailers to assist him, but he is responsible for their 
conduct. He is paid by fees, fixed by law, for his various 
services. He must keep books recording his official acts 
and must make an annual report to the grand jury at the 
first term of the superior court in each year. 

98. The Coroner.—In 1194 a statute of Eichard I. for¬ 
bade sheriffs to act as justices, and instituted coroners to 
hold pleas of the crown in their place. Edward I, re¬ 
quired the coroner to hold inquests in case of sudden 
death. His power to hear cases of felony was abolished 
by Magna Charta, and he gradually lost all other duties 
except that of taking inquisitions of death. 

The inquest is held with the assistance of a ‘^coroner’s 
jury’’ of six electors, over the body of any person who 
has died under suspicious circumstances, or by violence, 
casualty, or in prison, without an attending physician. 
Should the jury find any person guilty of homicide, the 
coroner commits him to prison to await trial or requires 
bail. When the sheriff is absent or discpialified, the cor¬ 
oner acts as sheriff in his place. 

99. The County Treasurer is elected for a term of two 


THE COUNTY AND THE MILITIA DISTRICT 


89 


years by the qualified voters of the county, and must give 
bond for double the estimated amount of funds in the 
treasury for the ensuing year. He receives all money 
paid into the county treasury, and pays it out only upon 
warrants issued by the ordinary or county commissioners. 
At the first session of the superior court in each yyar he 
must make a full statement of the condition of the treas¬ 
ury to the grand Jury. On the second Monday in January 
he must file with the ordinary an annual statement accom¬ 
panied by vouchers, together with an estimate of debt and 
resources for the following year. His books must at all 
times be open to the inspection of the ordinary. 

100. A Tax-Receiver is similarly elected. It is his 
duty to visit at stated times each militia district in the 
county and receive from each tax-payer a statement on 
oath of the kind and amount of his taxable property. 
From these returns three digests, including lists of default¬ 
ers, are made out, for the use of the comptroller-general 
ordinaiy, and tax-collector respectively. He must assess 
upon the ordinary’s digest the county tax, according to the 
rate levied by the ordinary. He is further charged with 
the duty of collecting from the tax-payers statistics con¬ 
cerning the acreage planted, crops grown, products of 
manufactories, and similar evidences of the resources of 
the State. He also registers the number of children of 
school age. 

101. The Tax-Collector collects from each tax-payer 
the amounts due as taxes to the State and county, as 
shown by the digest of the receiver. It is his duty to 
search out and ascertain as far as possible all polls, profes¬ 
sions and property taxable but not found in the digest, 
and to assess and collect thereon a double tax. He must 
issue executions against defaulters and insolvents, and 
place them with the proper officer for collection. He 


90 


THE CIVIL GOyERVME^T OF GEORGIA 


must give adequate bond and is paid l)y coniinissions which 
he deducts from his receipts. He also deducts and pays 
over the commissions due the tax-receiver. In accordance 
with the general registration law of 1894, he registers and 
preserves registration lists of all qualified voters. 

102. ^ A County Surveyor is elected with the other 
county officers. He surveys county and district lines and 
makes any other surveys in which the county or State is 
interested, when required to do so by the ordinary or 
comptroller-general. He executes all surveys required by 
any rule of the courts; he j^repares maps for the county; 
preserves records and plats of his surveys, and is fre¬ 
quently called upon to decide the justice of disputed 
claims. He receives stated fees for his w'ork and must 
give bond for $1,000. 

103. Jury Commissioners.—The important duty of se¬ 
lecting jurors is entrusted to a board of six persons ap¬ 
pointed for six-year terms by the judge of the superior 
court, two appointments being made each alternate year. 
The commissioners meet .in August of every second year 
to revise the jury lists, the superior court clerk acting as 
clerk of the board. They are paid two dollars for each 
day’s service, and the clerk three. 

They select from the books of the tax-receiver upright 
and intelligent men” to serve as jurors. These must be 
between the ages of twenty-one and sixty years, and not 
exempt by law from jury duty on account of occupation 
or infirmity; clergymen, lawyers, teachers, physicians and 
other classes are exempt. The name of each man selected 
is written on a separate ticket. A sufficient number is 
chosen of the most experienced and intelligent men on 
the list, who are to serve as grand jurors. The tickets con¬ 
taining their names are placed in a box with two compart¬ 
ments; and the names of all the jurors in a similar box. 


THE COUNTY AND THE MILITIA DISTRICT 91 


The judge of the superior court at the close of each term 
opens the grand Jury box and draws from the first com¬ 
partment between eighteen and thirty names from which 
the grand jury of the next term of court is impanelled. 
These are then placed in the second compartment and are 
not liable to be drawn again until the whole list is ex¬ 
hausted. In the same way the judge draws from the 
second box thirty-six names to serve as petit jurors, re¬ 
turning to the box the name of any person already drawn 
to serve as grand juror. 

104. The Grand Jury.—A summons is served by the 
sheriff upon the persons whose names have been drawn 
as grand jurors at least ten days prior to the term of court. 
The jury must consist of not less than eighteen nor more 
than twenty-three men. A foreman is selected by ballot 
at the first meeting. The grand jury is charged with a 
general oversight or inspection of county affairs. They 
are required on oath to indict or present for trial all per¬ 
sons whom, on their own knowledge or from evidence 
brought before them they believe to be guilty of violation 
of the law. They have power to summon witnesses and 
examine them on oath. Charges and evidence are gener¬ 
ally submitted to them by the solicitor-general. If twelve 
of the jury agree that the evidence in any case is sufficient 
to justify a trial they write on the back of the indictment 
A true bill,” and the accused is then tried in court unless 
the solicitor enters a 7ioIle prosequi. 

But the grand jury has also important duties connected 
with the county administration. It is charged with the 
inspection and examination of the books, accounts, records 
and offices of the ordinary, superior court clerk, treasurer 
and other county officers; it examines and corrects the 
digest of the tax receiver, and the list of registered voters; 
it looks into the condition and management of the county 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


d2 


roads, buildings, Jails and school-houses; and exercises a 
general supervision of the interests of the county. For 
this purpose the Jurors at their first meeting usually divide 
themselves into a number of committees, each charged 
with a special part of tlie work. The result of their im 
vestigation is summed up in their general presentment 
on county affairs. The grand Jury exercises directly 
certain administrative duties; it advises the ordinary in 
fixing the amount of the county tax; it determines the 
salary of the county court Judge, and the pay of all Jurors 
and bailiffs; it appoints the county board of education; 
and its initiative or approval is necessary in carrying out 
certain changes in local government. 

105. Road Commissioners.—For the opening and 
maintenance of the public roads each county is divided by 
the ordinary into a number of road districts, in such a man¬ 
ner as to make the burden upon the residents of each dis¬ 
trict as nearly equal as possible. In each district three 
road commissioners are appointed by the ordinary to serve 
for two years. The appointment cannot be declined with¬ 
out special excuse; the commissioners receive no pay, but 
are exempt from Juiy, militia and other road duty. 

The commissioners appoint overseers to superintend 
the work on the roads. Lists are kept of all persons liable, 
and after every period of road-working, the commissioners 
are required to hold a court for the purpose of trying 
those who have refused or neglected to perform their al¬ 
lotted tasks. They are given power to fine or imprison 
defaulters. Annual reports as to the condition of the 
roads are to be made to the ordinary. 

Four systems of maintaining the roads are in operation 
in the various counties under provisions of different stat¬ 
utes : 

1. By the old law, some of whose clauses have been in 


TEE COUXTY AND THE MILITIA DISTRICT 


93 


effect since 1799, all males between the ages of sixteen and 
fifty except ministers of the gospel, cripples, and employ¬ 
ees of certain State institutions, are required to work on the 
roads, as summoned and directed by the overseers, for not 
more than fifteen days in the year, nor more than five 
days at one time. This system in antiquated and unwise; 
the labor is forced, inefficient, and unskilfully directed, 
resulting in bad roads maintained at great expense. 

2. By an alternate law of 1891, which may be adopted 
by any county on recommendation of the grand jury, road 
work is required of the same jx^rsons, but for not more 
than ten days in the year, and any person may pay in lieu 
of the work a commutation tax of fifty cents for each day^s 
work required. In addition, the county authorities levy 
a road tax of not more than twenty cents on each hundred 
dollars worth of taxable property, and use the proceeds, 
together with the commutation tax, for employing hired 
labor. They may also work a county chain-gang of mis¬ 
demeanor convicts, and the county’s quota of State con¬ 
victs. 

3. Under an Act of 1896 any county whose voters so 
decide at a special election may adopt a third system. All 
males between twenty-one and fifty who are not physically 
or mentally disabled are liable to road duty for not more 
than four days in the year, but may pay instead a commu¬ 
tation tax of three dollars, or such amount as the road 
authorities shall fix as equivalent to four days’ labor. The 
proceeds of this tax and of a special county road tax of 
not less than ten or more than twenty-five cents on each 
hundred dollars of taxable property, are to be applied by 
the county authorities to the improvement of the public 
roads as they may deem best. 

4. An Act of 1898 provides that any county whose citi¬ 
zens have elected the 1896 plan, may on recommendation 


94 


THE CIVIL COVERyMEyT OF OEORQIA 


of the grand jury substitute the following moditication: 
All males not physically or mentally disabled are liable to 
road duty for not more than four days in each year, but 
may pay instead a commutation tax of one dollar for each 
day required of them. The road overseers in each district, 
who receive under this law $1.50 for each day of actual 
service, summon such number of persons liable as can be 
worked to best advantage. As those first summoned work 
out their time or pay the commutation tax (which the over¬ 
seer collects and receipts for), others are summoned, un¬ 
til all the roads of the district have been put in good order, 
or the hands liable exhausted. In the latter case the over¬ 
seer continues the work with hired hands. A county road 
tax of not less than ten or more than twenty cents on each 
hundred dollars of taxable property is to be levied by the 
ordinary and collected and paid over to the county treas¬ 
urer with the other county taxes. The ordinary and one 
road commissioner from each district (elected by his fellow 
commissioners each year), constitute a board of roads and 
revenues, which divides the proceeds of said tax among the 
several districts in proportion to the length and character 
of the roads in each. The road commissioners of each dis¬ 
trict then apply the tax, together with the commutation 
tax of their district, to the improvement of the roads as 
they deem best. 

106. Commissioner of the Poor.—The general super¬ 
vision of paupers is vested in the ordinary, who has power 
to raise taxes and make provision for their relief or main¬ 
tenance. He may however appoint a commissioner of the 
poor to receive and disburse money devoted to this service, 
to hear applications from paupers, to supervise the poor- 
house, should the county have one, and discharge similar 
duties. 


THE COUXTY AXD THE MILITIA DISTRICT 


95 


THE MILITIA DISTRICT 

107. The Militia District is a subdivision of the county 
chiefly for election purposes and for military organization. 
The power to establish and change these districts is vested 
in the ordinary. Each district must contain men enough 
to form one company. Not more than one election pre¬ 
cinct can be formed in each district. 

108. The Justice of the Peace.—The lowest court of 
the judicial system of all the States is historically one of 
the most interesting and venerable. In 1195, a statute of 
Richard the Lion-hearted provided for the appointment 
of certain knights in each shire to see that all men should 
take oath to keep the peace and to raise the “ hue and cry ” 
in pursuit of malefactors. In place of these knights, or- 
ficers called Conservators of the Peace {custodes pads) 
were created in 1253 and 1264. Edward 111. added the 
power of trying felonies, and gave them the title of Jus¬ 
tices of the Peace. The offlee became a most important 
one, and has played a conspicuous part in English local 
government. From this source the title and functions of 
the humbler American justice are derived. 

In Georgia there is one justice of the peace in every 
militia district, elected by the voters of the district for a 
term of four years. There also may be, and there gener¬ 
ally is, in each district a commissioned notary public,^ 
appointed by the judge of the superior court, upon recom¬ 
mendation of the grand jury, and commissioned by the 
governor for four years, who is ex ofjido justice of the 
peace. There are thus practically two justices for every 

1 These officers must not be confused with commercial notaries 
public, any number of which may be appointed by the circuit 
judge, and who witness and seal papers, administer oaths and 
exercise the usual notarial powers. 



96 


THE CIVIL GOVER^'MEST OF GEORGIA 


militia district. The justice must hold his court monthly 
at some central and convenient place in the district. His 
civil jurisdiction includes all cases arising from contract 
and cases of injury or damage to personal property, where 
the principal sum claimed does not exceed one hundred 
dollars. In criminal matters he acts as conservator of 
the public peace, issuing warrants for the arrest of any 
person charged on oath with violation of the penal code, 
examining him and committing, bailing, or discharging 
him. The justice of the peace has no power to fine or 
to imprison as a penalty except for contempt. 

109. The Constable also holds an office of remote ori¬ 
gin. There are two constables in each militia district, 
elected as the justices, but for two-year terms. They are 
required to attend the sessions of the justcie’s court, and, 
when summoned by the sheriff, those of the superior court. 
They arrest persons accused of offences against the law, 
and execute all warrants, summonses and processes ordered 
by the court. 

110. Observations upon the Character of State and 
Local Government. —It is most interesting and instruc¬ 
tive to analyze and compare the parts played by tlie vari¬ 
ous organizations and officers of central and local authority 
in the government of the State. We have seen how im¬ 
portant and comprehensive are the powers reserved by 
the State as compared with those delegated to the Federal 
government. Nearly everything that concerns the daily 
life of the citizen falls within their scope. But by whom, 
by which of the constituted authorities of the State is 
this vast power wielded? 

By the Executive? The governor is called the chief 
executive of the State, ])ut on examination his adminis¬ 
trative powers shrink to comparative insignificance. The 
State officers, whom he does not appoint or control, are 


TEE COUXTY AYD MILITIA DISTRICT 


97 


given by law large independent spheres of action. They 
are co-ordinated with him, not responsible to him. They, 
as well as he, are controlled by laws minutely directing 
their official duties. Xor can the governor and State of¬ 
ficers taken together be considered the real controlling 
power in the execution of the laws. They have little dis¬ 
cretionary power. As far as possible their every adminis¬ 
trative act is marked out by statute: numerous local of¬ 
ficers, with whose selection they have nothing to do, and 
who are not responsible to them, perform the bulk of the 
executive work of the State. From an administrative 
point of view the county is the most vital part of the sys¬ 
tem. The central authorities have little more than formal 
superintendence. The executive power is in reality dif¬ 
fused throughout the local organs of government. 

Since, then, the acts of all executive officers are con¬ 
trolled and directed by statute, may not the General As¬ 
sembly be said to wield the sovereign authority of the 
State? This indeed would be nearer the truth. The cen¬ 
tral authority counts for much in legislation. There is no 
local body with real law-making power; so the General 
Assembly would seem to possess all legislative authority 
not expressly granted to Congress. Yet we find it hedged 
in on every side by restrictions and limitations imposed 
by the Constitution of the State. These restrictions are 
numerous and of various classes. They prohibit laws 
granting special political privileges, as immunities, titles, 
and hereditary honors; and laws abridging any of the 
liberties set forth in the bill of rights.^ They limit the 
time and length of session, and regulate the procedure of 
the legislature; fixing the method of voting, of intro¬ 
ducing and passing bills, and many other details. They 


1 See Art. /. 




98 


THE CIVIL COVERyME-NT OF GEORGIA 


forbid increasing the State debt, or authorizing local debts 
beyond a certain point; impairing the obligation of con¬ 
tracts; permitting lotteries and various measures contrary 
to public policy. Even the domain of ordinary law-mak¬ 
ing is invaded, and the legislature bridled in its action as 
to private debt, homestead exemptions, the granting of 
charters of incorporation, and many other matters. Clearly 
the General Assembly is not a sovereign body. The State’s 
sovereignty rests only with the power that can make and 
change the Constitution—with the people. 

Summing up, then, the results of our inquiry we see 
that: 

1. The People constitute the only sovereign authority of 
the State. 

2. Legislation is central and uniform in application. 

3. Administration is diffused and local. Local officers 
have large freedom and scope of action. They do not 
serve the central authorities, and can be controlled only 
by the enforcement of general laws in the courts of the 
State. 












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CHAPTER V 

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 

111. Municipal Corporations. —County government 
under the organization described in the last chapter would 
be insufficient for the needs of a community in wliich a 
considerable number of people live together within a small 
area. There special problems arise, concerning the pres¬ 
ervation of order, the maintenance of health, the open¬ 
ing and repair of streets and sidewalks, the supply of 
water, protection from fire, and many other matters which 
can be properly managed only by those who are immedi¬ 
ately concerned. The difficulty of administration increases 
rapidly as the number of residents becomes greater. Spe¬ 
cial local governments are therefore created, to which the 
State delegates a share of its power. These are municipal 
corporations. Their powers are much larger than those 
of the counties, and increase in proportion to the number 
of their inhabitants. 

112. The Village or Town and the City in Georgia. 

—In some States municipal corporations are classified ac¬ 
cording to population into hamlets, villages, towns or bor¬ 
oughs, and cities, and the form of government of each 
class is determined by general law. In Georgia the terms 
are very loosely applied, and no line is legally drawn be¬ 
tween them. The terms village and town are used almost 
synonymously, although the former is not often employed; 
very small communities are frequently classed as cities. 

7—Ga. 99 




100 


THE CIVIL OOVERNMEyT OF GEORGIA 


THE TOWN 

113. The Town or Village. —In 1872 a general law 
was enacted providing for tlie incorporation of towns. 
This made a vague legal distinction between town and 
city, as the incorporation of cities was reserved for special 
act of the legislature. By the law of 1872 any community 
containing twenty-five electors may petition the superior 
court for incorporation as a town, provided it be situated 
at least a mile from any existing town. An election is 
thereupon ordered, and if carried in favor of incorpora¬ 
tion a charter is duly granted by the court, and arrange¬ 
ments are made for the election of town officers. 

114. The Town Government. —These officers are a 
mayor, a recorder and five councilmen, who together form 
the common council of the town, in which the corporate 
powers are vested. The council is the legislative body of 
the town, making all ordinances proper for its govern¬ 
ment, providing for the assessment of property and the 
levying of taxes. The mayor is the chief executive author¬ 
ity with power to enforce the ordinances of the council, 
and punish those who violate them. He is ex officio justice 
of the peace. A marshal, treasurer and other officials may 
be appointed by the council. 

115. Failure of the Municipal Corporations Act.— 
For some reason very few towns were ever incorporated 
under the act of 1872, and it is now practically obsolete. 
Subsequent amendments confused its provisions, and cer¬ 
tain parts of it were declared unconstitutional by the su¬ 
preme court. On account of these or other considerations, 
most applications for incorporation have been made direct 
to the General Assembly, which continued to grant town 
charters. This has resulted in a considerable lack of uni¬ 
formity, as the number of town officers, their qualifica- 


MUNICIPAL GOVERNMEliT 


101 


tions and term of office, the extent of the powers of the 
mayor and of the council, and many other matters are 
fixed by the special act of incorporation. There is now 
usually no “ recorder ” as provided in the Act of 1872; 
and the council appoints a clerk who is generally also 
treasurer. Small towns are provided with simple govern¬ 
ments of limited powers. The government is extended in 
complexity and function as the population of a town in¬ 
creases, by new acts of the legislature, either amending the 
old charter or granting a new one. 

The General Assembly of Georgia in this respect pos¬ 
sesses much larger powers than those of many other States, 
whose Constitutions prohibit such special legislation. 


THE CITY 

116. The City. —Many of the observations made in re¬ 
gard to towns apply equally to cities. There is no legal 
distinction or classification based on population. The 
General Assembly has provided for the government of each 
by a special act granting a charter, which it has power 
to alter as occasion requires. The diversity in the form 
and details of our city governments is much greater than 
in the case of towns. The smaller cities differ but little 
from the larger towns; while the greater ones are more 
complex in government than the State itself. 

117. The City Government. —Mr. Bryce observes that 
the general form of city government is a copy of that of 
the State. The charter corresponds to the State Constitu¬ 
tion; the mayor to the governor; the various city officials 
and boards to the State executive officials; the council to 
the General Assembly, and the city courts to the judi¬ 
ciary. 

The functions of city government, as Bryce further 


102 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


points out, may be distributed into three groups—(a) 
those which are delegated by the State out of its general 
administrative powers, such as the police power, taxation 
and the granting of licenses, and the execution of certain 
protective laws; (&) those which though done under gen¬ 
eral laws are properly local matters and subject to local 
regulations, such as education and the care of the poor; 
and (c) those of a purely business order, such as paving 
and cleaning the streets, drainage and sanitation, the pro¬ 
vision of water and light. The city is a political entity so 
far as the first and second groups are concerned; and in 
respect to the third it may be considered a business cor¬ 
poration in which the tax-payers are shareholders, doing 
by public agency things which each might do for himself 
at greater cost and trouble. 

118. City Officers. —The diversity in the number and 
duties of city officers renders a discussion of details un¬ 
desirable. A copy of the city charter can usually be ob¬ 
tained from the city clerk, and may be made the basis 
of an interesting and profitable local study. In the larger 
cities the mayor is left free for his executive duties by the 
appointment of a recorder or police court, to discharge his 
judicial functions and to punish the violation of city or¬ 
dinances. A city attorney is usually chosen by the council 
to look after the legal interests of the municipality. The 
council or board of aldermen in Georgia consists of one 
chamber, composed of representatives elected from the vari¬ 
ous wards into which the city is divided. Its powers vary 
in extent according to the size of the city. The clerk is 
sometimes elective, sometimes appointed by the council. 
Most of the other officers are appointed by the council, 
and render services indicated by their titles; as treas¬ 
urer, tax-receiver, tax-collector, street commissioner, san¬ 
itary inspector, marshal or chief of police and superin- 


MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 


103 


tendent of education. Various boards or commissions are 
created to assist in the work of administration, such as 
the board of health, of education, of public works, tax- 
assessors, park commissioners, police commissioners and 
others. 

119. Municipal Finances. —The revenues from which 
the expenses of municipal government are defrayed arise 
chiefly from a general uniform tax on real and personal 
property, and from licenses imposed upon various occupa¬ 
tions and business pursuits. Both of these powers are 
limited by State laws and generally also by provisions of 
the municipal charter; but a considerable degree of liberty 
remains. The taxing power is an extremely important 
one, and upon its proper use the prosperity of the com¬ 
munity very largely depends. As the population of a city 
increases the expenses of administration increase far more 
rapidly, and it is often a difficult problem to obtain a suf¬ 
ficient income. Unwise taxes are then frequently imposed 
which tend to blight the city’s growth, and drive capital 
and business enterprise to other places. Two important 
lessons have been taught by the experience of cities in this 
country and abroad; the first is, never tax, or tax very 
lightly, property and industries that can he driven away. 
The second is, exact full payment in return for public fran¬ 
chises. The most important public franchises are the 
special rights to make use of the streets, granted to gas, 
electric light and telephone companies, street railways 
and similar enterprises. These franchises confer privileges 
of a monopolistic nature, and in large cities become ex¬ 
tremely valuable. They can properly be made to bear a 
considerable part of the public burden. Some authorities 
advocate the sale of such franchises to the highest bidder, 
for terms of say twenty-five years. In this way the people 
would reap the full benefit of the city’s growth. 


104 THE CIVIL GOVERyMElsT OF GEORGIA 

Debts may be contracted by cities, but under the State 
Constitution they must not exceed seven per cent, of the 
assessed value of taxable property. Except in the case 
of small debts to tide over temporary deficits in revenue, 
no debt can be contracted without the approval of two- 
thirds of the qualified voters, as expressed at a special 
election after due notice. Provision must then be made for 
the extinction of the debt, principal and interest, within a 
period of thirty years. 


CHAPTER VI 

ELECTIONS 

120. The Choice of Officers. —The success and pros¬ 
perity of the Commonwealth depend in a peculiar degree 
upon the selection of upright, capable and patriotic men 
to fill public office. Almost the only way in which the 
citizen can actually take part in the government is by in¬ 
fluencing this selection by the ballot. It is of great im¬ 
portance, therefore, that everyone should understand thor¬ 
oughly the method by which so high a privilege and duty 
is exercised. 

121. Registration. —Every male citizen of the United 
States twenty-one years of age who has resided one year 
in the State and six months in the county in which he 
offers to vote, and possesses certain qualifications specified 
by the Constituion,^ is an elector, and has the right to 
vote on complying with certain conditions. No idiot or 
insane person, however, or person convicted of crime 
against the State, is allowed to vote. 

Under the general registration law of 1894, every elector 
who wishes to exercise his right, must subscribe his name, 
in a voter’s book ” kept by the county tax-collector, to an 
oath, stating his age, occupation, residence and the fact 
that he has paid all required taxes. These voters’ books 
are kept open at the collector’s office at all times of col¬ 
lecting taxes, and for a period of thirty days beginning 

1 See Art. II., Sects. I. and II. Section I. is an amendment of 
1908, popularly known as the “ disfranchisement law.” 

105 



106 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


fifty days before the time of election. The collector must 
allow no one to register whom he believes to be disquali¬ 
fied. Copies of this list are forwarded to the county “ Eeg- 
istrars,” a bi-partisan board of three men appointed for a 
two-years’ term by the judge of the superior court. Lists 
of disqualified voters are prepared by the tax-collector, 
ordinary, and superior court clerk, on the best evidence 
they can obtain, and filed with the registrars. AYlien the 
lists are all in, and fifteen days before the election, the 
registrars carefully examine, compare and correct them, 
and make from them a list of “ registered voters ” in alpha¬ 
betical order of names and by militia districts and city 
wards, distinguishing between white and colored voters 
and stating age, occupation and residence. The managers 
of each voting precinct are provided with the proper list 
of registered voters on the day of election, and no person 
whose name does not appear is allowed to vote. 

122. Election Days. —Presidential electors and mem¬ 
bers of Congress are by Federal law voted for on the 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The elec¬ 
tions always occur in even years. The general State elec¬ 
tion for governor and State officers, senators and repre¬ 
sentatives takes place on the first Wednesday in October 
of every even year. County elections for ordinaries, supe¬ 
rior court clerks, sheriffs, coroners, tax-receivers and col¬ 
lectors, county surveyors and other county officers, occur 
on the first Wednesday in October, even years. In the 
militia districts justices of the peace and constables are 
elected on the first Saturday in December, even years. 

123. Political Parties have come to exercise an all- 
important infiuence upon the conduct of government and 
the choice of officers. From the beginning of our national 
history opinions have differed widely as to the interpreta¬ 
tion of the Constitution and other questions of public 


ELECTIONS 


107 


policy. Men holding similar views naturally combined to 
secure the election of officers who would carry them into 
effect. Gradually there developed great national parties, 
strongly and permanently organized to contest for the con¬ 
trol of government. National party conventions are held 
every four years on the eve of presidential elections, which 
formulate the party platform ” and nominate the party 
candidates. Permanent national and Congressional com¬ 
mittees take charge of party interests and arrange for the 
management of campaigns. 

This party organization has extended everywhere into 
State, county, and even municipal politics. It greatly 
facilitates the conduct of elections and produces greater 
care and economy in the administration of government, 
as the party in power is constantly watched and criticised 
by its opponents. 

124. Party Organization in Georgia. —A description 
of the Democratic organization will give the best idea of 
State party politics. A State convention is called every 
two 3 ^ears just before the general election, by the State 
executive committee holding over from the preceding con¬ 
vention. Each county is entitled to twice as many votes 
in the convention as it has members in the House of 
Representatives. A much larger delegation is usually sent, 
a majority casting the votes of the county. The conven¬ 
tion adopts a party platform, nominates candidates for 
State offices or ratifies primary nominations, and appoints 
an executive committee, consisting of one member from 
each county, to look after party interests in the State for 
the next two years. It also appoints delegates to attend the 
national party convention, if one is to take place. 

In each congressional district and in each State senato¬ 
rial district similar conventions of county delegates are 
held for the nomination of candidates. 


108 


THE CIVIL aOVEliXMENT OF GEORGIA 


A county convention meets every two years and appoints 
a county executive committee and chairman. This con¬ 
vention is a mass meeting called by the existing executive 
committee, which usually consists of two members from 
each voting precinct in the county. Delegates are chosen 
to higher conventions, sometimes directly, sometimes by 
subsequent primaries. In towns and cities similar con¬ 
ventions are called and committees appointed to manage 
the contest for municipal offices. 

125. The Nomination. —The elector can of course vote 
for any qualified person at the polls. The nomination is 
made to concentrate the vote of the party and ensure suc¬ 
cess. Nominations are usually made in ‘‘primary elec¬ 
tions.” The primary is an election or a “ caucus ” held 
by a party to decide upon its candidates for nomination. 
In the regular election the voter is practically limited to 
a choice between two or more nominees proposed by pre¬ 
vious party action. If he disapproves of these he must 
either vote against his better judgment or throw away his 
ballot by bestowing it upon some one who has no chance 
of success. It is in the primary election that his influence 
will have most weight. In Georgia the practical suprem¬ 
acy of the Democratic party has made the primary of more 
importance than the actual election, which is often purely 
formal and perfunctory. 

126. The Election. —In all but municipal elections 
notice is given by the ordinary, who is furnished with the 
necessary blank forms by the governor; these he distributes 
to the justices of the peace of the county at least ten days 
before the time of voting. The election must be held by 
three freeholders, duly sworn; if possible, one must be an 
ordinary or justice of the peace. The sheriff or a deputy 
is present to preserve order. The vote is by ballot. Three 
lists of voters, numbered in the order of voting, and three 


ELECTIONS 


109 


tally sheets are kept by the superintendents. As each 
ballot is received the number of the voter is marked on 
it, and it is deposited in a ballot-bax. If any voter is 
challenged, the fact is noted on the ballot and on the lists. 
The polls are open from 7 a. m. to 6 p. m. at the county 
court-house, and from 8 a. m. to 3 p. m. at the precincts. 

127. The Result. —The superintendents count the bal¬ 
lots and make a certificate of the number of votes each 
candidate has received. This certificate, with the lists, 
tally sheets and ballots, under seal, are sent to the county 
seat for consolidation before 12 o’clock of the day follow¬ 
ing the election.. The votes are consolidated by the super¬ 
intendents at the county seat, who make out two certifi¬ 
cates stating the number of votes each person has received. 
One, together with one list of voters and tally sheet from 
each place of election, is mailed to the governor; the 
other is filed with the superior court clerk. The ballots, 
still under seal, are kept for sixty days, or until after the 
next term of the superior court, and if there be no contest, 
destroyed unopened. The grand jury examines the lists, 
and indicts any illegal voter. Commissions are delivered 
by the governor to the successful candidates, who enter 
upon office when the terms of their predecessors have 
expired, and they have formally taken the oath of office 
prescribed by law. 

128. The Australian System. —The method of con¬ 
ducting elections just described is antiquated and open 
to the objection that the voter may be bribed, watched 
and intimidated, and imposed upon by deceptive ballots. 
The most enlightened men of the State are urging the 
adoption of the Australian system, which under different 
modifications has been successfully introduced in many 
States. Its main features are: State control of election 
machinery; secret voting; uniform official ballots contain- 


110 


THE CIVIL QOVERXMEXT OF OEOHOIA 


ing the names of all candidates; official equality of nom¬ 
inations made either by parties or by papers signed by a 
given number of citizens. The Australian system has a 
salutary influence in checking corruption and in lessening 
the power of political ‘‘bosses.” 

In recent years modified forms of the Australian ballot, 
especially in regard to secret voting, have been frequently 
enforced in Georgia by direction of the county conventions. 


CHAPTER VII 

PUBLIC EDUCATION 

129. The Establishment of Public Schools.—No gen¬ 
eral system of public education existed in Georgia prior 
to 1871. The “ poor schools ” of the ante-bellum period 
were based upon a different principle. A scheme of 
public instruction was advocated as early as 1845, and 
renewed efforts were made in 1856 and in 1858, the last 
resulting in. the temporary establishment of free schools 
in Forsyth county. The Constitution of 1868 declared for 
^‘a thorough system of general education, to be forever 
free to all children of the State.” This idea was carried 
into effect by an organized movement of the State Teach¬ 
ers’ Association, set on foot at its annual meeting in At¬ 
lanta, August, 1869. An able committee was appointed to 
draft a scheme of public education, which became the basis 
of a bill before the legislature. The earnest efforts of the 
teachers and their friends secured its passage, and the first 
public school law was enacted on October 13, 1870. Gen¬ 
eral J. E. Lewis was appointed State school commissioner 
under its provisions, and a school system was put in opera¬ 
tion in 1871. The disordered finances of the State forced 
a suspension of the schools in 1872. In the same year a 
new act of the General Assembly changed and modified 
the system, and Gustavus J. Orr, an ^ble and devoted edu¬ 
cator, was made commissioner. The schools were reopened 
in the following year and have been ever since regularly 
maintained. Their progress has been steady and encour- 

111 





112 


TEE CIVIL QOVEEXMEyT OF GEOEOIA 


aging. The number of pupils enrolled in 1871 was 46,578, 
of which 6664 were colored; in 1906, excluding local sys¬ 
tems 415,809 pupils were enrolled, 170,325 being colored. 
The school fund in 1871 amounted to $174,107.02; the 
amount appropriated by the legislature for 1908 is $2,000,- 
000, and for 1909 $2,250,000. Including the local systems 
the total enrollment in 1906 was 516,268 pupils, with 
10,669 teachers. 

130. Local School Systems.—A provision of the Con¬ 
stitution limits public school instruction maintained by 
the State to the elementary branches of an English edu¬ 
cation only.” The General Assembly has interpreted this 
to include spelling, reading, writing, grammar, geography, 
arithmetic, history and Constitution of the United States 
and of Georgia, agriculture, and physiology. The school 
fund moreover, does not provide school-houses, and is 
barely sufficient to keep the schools open five months in the 
year. Counties and municipalities desiring more exten¬ 
sive facilities are allowed to organize special school sys¬ 
tems, drawing their pro-rata share of the school fund and 
meeting the extra expense by local taxation. Many of the 
more populous counties, towns and cities have in this 
way built up admirable local systems, with schools graded 
from primary to high schools. The enrollment of these 
systems in 1906 was 100,459. The present Commissioner 
strongly recommends that every county be required to levy 
a local school tax, equal at least to the amount received 
from the State. 

131. The State Board of Education.'—The control of 

1 Under the initiative of the Georgia Educational Association 
bills are being considered by the present legislature (1908) to 
change the State board of education into a professional board 
made up of six educators appointed by the governor, the State 
superintendent of public instruction, and the governor and attor- 



PUBLIC EDUaATION 


113 


public education throughout the State is vested in a board 
consisting of the governor, who is ex officio chairman, the 
attorney-general, secretary of State, comptroller-general, 
and a State school commissioner. The board is an advisory 
body from which the commissioner may receive counsel 
and assistance^ it has also the nature of a court to which 
appeals may be made from his decisions, and in which 
final authority is vested. It is constituted a school¬ 
book commission, charged with the final selection of text 
books, which are required by an Act of 1903, to be uniform 
except in the local systems. 

132. The State School Commissioner^ is the chief 
executive officer, charged with the administration of school 
laws and the general superintendence of all business re¬ 
lating to the public schools of the State. He is elected by 
the people for a two-year term, at a salary of $2000. He 
is provided with an office in the capitol, and is assisted 
by a clerk, paid $1200 a year, who is custodian of all papers 
and records of the office. 

It is the duty of the commissioner to transmit instruc¬ 
tions to subordinate school officers, with forms for their 
reports and blanks for their guidance in official business. 
He must visit and inspect the schools of the various coun¬ 
ties; apportion the school revenue equitably among them 
in proportion to the number of children between six and 
eighteen years of age; and see to the prosecution of de- 


ney-general ex officio; to give the new State board greater powers 
in the direction and control of all matters pertaining to the 
public schools; to substitute a State superintendent of public in¬ 
struction for the State school commissioner; and to amend the 
constitution so that high-schools may be established and sup¬ 
ported by State taxation. 

These and other measures promise to ipake a radical change 
in the school system. 



114 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


faulting school officers and agents. He is required to 
make an annual report to the General Assembly showing 
the condition of the school fund and of school property; 
setting forth statistics in regard to the schools of the 
State; and suggesting plans for the management, exten¬ 
sion and improvement of the school system. 

133. The County Board of Education. —Except where 
special local systems prevail, the schools are controlled by 
a county board of five freeholders appointed by the grand 
jury. Two members are appointed at one time, and three 
two years later; their term is four years. They are paid 
two dollars for each day of actual service. They meet four 
times a year in regular sessions of two days each, and may 
call special meetings. They divide the county into school 
districts of the approximate area of sixteen square miles, 
in each of which they establish a school for each race. 
They have a general supervision of the district school 
trustees, whose election they may approve or reject, and 
who must render them quarterly reports of receipts and 
expenditures, and furnish such school statistics of the dis¬ 
trict as may be called for. 

The county may supplement the school fund received 
from the State by a local tax of not more than one-half 
of one per cent., if the voters of the county so decide by 
a two-thirds vote at a special election. 

134. District Trustees—Local Tax. —In each school 
district three trustees are elected by the voters of the dis¬ 
trict for a three years’ term, one being chosen each year. 
The district may supplement the fund received from the 
State by a local tax, if so decided by a two-thirds vote at 
an election called for the purpose. The board of trustees 
then determine the amount to be raised by the local tax; 
they ascertain the value of taxable property in the district, 
including railroad and corporate property and franchises; 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 


115 


and fix the local school-tax rate. They build and equip 
the school houses, under approval of the county board, fix 
the salaries of teachers, and make all rules and regulations 
to govern the schools of the district. 

135, The County School Commissioner is selected by 
the county board from the citizens of the county, after an 
examination of applicants on questions prepared by the 
State commissioner. He is ex officio superintendent of the 
schools and secretary of the board; his term of office is 
four years, and he is paid not over three dollars for each 
day of service. He is the medium of communication be¬ 
tween the State commissioner and the county school of¬ 
ficers. He must inspect each school in the county at least 
twice a year. He examines applicants for teachers’ places 
on questions prepared by the State commissioner, and 
grades them according to the answers made. He acts as 
agent of the county board in purchasing supplies and dis¬ 
bursing funds; audits accounts of teachers; takes a census 
of children of school age once every four years; and makes 
formal reports to the State commissioner and to the grand 
jury. He is provided with an office at the court-house, 
where he preserves records of all his official acts, and of all 
papers and property pertaining to his office. His books 
are submitted to the grand jury for inspection at the 
spring term. He must give adequate bond for the dis¬ 
charge of his duty. 

136. The School Fund is made up of a direct appro¬ 
priation from the general State tax on property, a poll tax 
of one dollar on male citizens between twenty-one and 
sixty years of age, and certain special sources of revenue 
set aside by law for this purpose. These will be best shown 
by a statement of the school fund for 1907: 


8—Ga. 



116 


TEE CIVIL OOVERyMEyT OF GEOIiOIA 


General property tax . $1,000,000 

Poll tax . 275,000 

Half rental Western and Atlantic R. R. 210,006 

Tax on liquor dealers . 242,000 

Fees from inspection of fertilizers . 21,000 

Net hire of State convicts. 16,640 

Dividends from State stock in Georgia R. R. 2,046 

Tax on shows and exhibitions . 9,616 

Fees from inspection of oils . 1,600 

Lease of oyster lands . 0 

Proceeds of settlement for school lands. 8,681 


$1,786,580 

The General Assembly of 1007 discontinued the school 
fund as heretofore constituted, and enacted that in future 
it should consist entirely of a direct appropriation from the 
treasury. 

137. Teachers* Institutes and Normal Instruction.— 

One of the greatest obstacles to the development of public 
education has been the difficulty of securing properly 
trained and equipped teachers. Over ten thousand teach¬ 
ers are employed. Few applicants have enjoyed opportuni¬ 
ties for adequate preparation. As a partial remedy the 
General Assembly has adopted the expedient of “ Teachers* 
Institutes.** In each county all persons holding teachers* 
certificates are required to attend a meeting lasting a week 
or more, held at some time during the summer months, 
under the supervision of the county school commissioner, 
where they are given a thorough, model course of instruc¬ 
tion in the branches taught in the schools. A trained ex¬ 
pert is employed, if possible, to direct the work. Uniform¬ 
ity is secured throughout the State by the use of a syllabus 
of exercises prepared by the State commissiomer, who at¬ 
tends in person as many institutes as possible. The in- 












PUBLIC EDUCATION 


iir 


stitutes of several contiguous counties are often com¬ 
bined in one meeting. 

Much good has been accomplished by this means and 
normal instruction has been promoted as well by the 
Georgia Normal and Industrial College at Milledgeville, 
which is doing admirable work in training young women 
for the work of teachers. 

The State Normal School at Athens is, however, the 
most important factor in producing trained teachers. Af¬ 
ter a feeble and experimental beginning in 1891 it was 
fully established in 1895, and has since made a rapid and 
permanent growth. It now has an excellent equipment, an 
able faculty, and receives a liberal maintenance from the 
General Assembly. Its enrollment exceeds five hundred 
students. 

138. The University of Georgia. —At the head of the 
system of public education in the State stands the Univer¬ 
sity of Georgia. The Ordinance of 1787 contains the cele¬ 
brated clause: Eeligion, morality and knowledge being 
necessary to good government and the happiness of man¬ 
kind, schools and the means of education shall forever be 
encouraged.” This golden utterance is properly regarded 
as the corner-stone of the superb educational structure of 
the Western States. Three years earlier the legislature of 
Georgia, in terms almost synonymous, declared: The 
encouragement of religion and learning is an object of 
great importance to any community, and must tend to the 
happiness, prosperity and advantage of the same.” With 
Georgians at least, this declaration deserves an equal re¬ 
nown. It was accompanied by the transfer to the gov¬ 
ernor and others of forty thousand acres of land in trust 
for the endowment of a college. In the following year, 
1785, an Act was passed creating trustees and granting a 


118 


THE CIVIL GOVERI^ME'NT OF GEORGIA 


charter to the University of Georgia/’—a title which was 
to include “ all public schools instituted or to be supported 
by funds or public moneys in this State.” 

The wild lands granted proved of trifling value. It 
was not until 1801 that the donation of six hundred and 
thirty acres of valuable land by Governor Milledge en¬ 
abled the trustees to begin their work. “ Franklin Col¬ 
lege ” was opened in that year on the lands donated. 
About it the city of Athens gradually developed. In 1803 
the trustees succeeded in disposing of a small portion of 
the State grant. It was subsequently all sold, the pur¬ 
chasers giving in payment interest-bearing notes secured 
by mortgage. In 1815 the State agreed to take these notes 
and advance two-thirds of their value to the trustees. The 
principal sum agreed upon, $100,000, was not paid, but be¬ 
came a permanent debt, upon which the State annually 
pays the University $8000 interest.^ With the exception 
of this interest the State long gave the University at 
Athens no regular pecuniary support, though sundry small 
appropriations were made from time to time.^ In 1900, 
however, a more liberal policy was adopted. In addi¬ 
tion to several new buildings, an annual maintenance 
fund of $22,500 has been provided, increased for 1908 
and 1909 to $32,500. 

In 1872 the State College of Agriculture and the Me¬ 
chanic Arts was established by the trustees as a co-ordinate 

1 The remaining value of the notes taken by the State is con¬ 
sidered to have been repaid by an annual appropriation of $6000 
made to the University from 1830 to 1841. 

2 An Act of Sept. 30, 1881, provided a means of safe and con¬ 
venient investment for funds of the University in the form of 
special, non-transferable, fifty-year State bonds, bearing seven 
per cent, interest. In 1898 the interest was reduced to three and 
one-half per cent. 




PUBLIC EDUCATION 


119 


department of the University, with a distinct organization, 
but closely affiliated with Franklin College. By legislative 
enactment this college was made the recipient of the great¬ 
er part of the Federal appropriations to State Colleges of 
Agriculture and Mechanic Arts under the Morrill Acts of 
1862 and 1890 and the Nelson amendment of 1907. From 
this source the State College receives nearly $40,000 an¬ 
nually. In 1906 and 1907 the General Assembly inau¬ 
gurated a wide scheme of agricultural and industrial edu¬ 
cation. An appropriation of $100,000 was made for a 
great agricultural building on the campus of the Univer¬ 
sity ; and provision was made for the establishment in each 
of the eleven congressional districts of an agricultural and 
industrial high-school, each school to be a branch of the 
State College. The net fees from the inspection of oils 
and fertilizers are set aside for the support of these schools. 
In each district a local board of trustees, composed of one 
member appointed by the governor from each county in 
the district, has control of the management of the school; 
these local boards being under the general supervision of 
the University trustees. Under the terms of the Act, land 
and buildings and other donations were to be subscribed 
by the counties which desired to secure the location of the 
schools. Property approximating $800,000 in value has 
already been thus donated, and a number of the high- 
schools successfully established. Tuition is free; students 
of both sexes are received; and half the money obtained 
from the proceeds of the school industry is to be divided 
among them. The curriculum is so arranged that young 
men who complete the course can enter the freshman class 
of the State College on certificate without examination. 

A School of Law is a department of the University at 
Athens. In 1873 the Medical College of Augusta, founded 
in 1829, became the Medical Department of the University. 


120 


THE CIVIL aOVERSMENT OF GEORGIA 


The State has established a number of institutions as 
branches of the University, under the same chancellorship, 
but controlled by different boards of trustees^ These are 
the North Georgia Agricultural College opened in 1873 
at Dahlonega; the Georgia School of Technology in At¬ 
lanta; the Georgia Normal and Industrial College, for 
women, at Milledgeville; the State Industrial College, for 
colored youths, established at Savanah in 1890; and the 
Georgia Normal School at Athens. 

The position of the University as a great public school 
is emphasized by its government. The trustees are ap¬ 
pointed by the governor of the State, with the approval 
of the Senate. One is appointed from each congressional 
district, four from the State at large, and two from the 
city of Athens, for terms of eight years. The governor and 
the chairmen of the commissions in charge of the School 
of Technology, of the Georgia Normal and Industrial Col¬ 
lege, and of the State Industrial College, are ex officio 
members of the board, which has thus twenty-one members 
in all.^ A board of visitors, composed of five experienced 
educators, is appointed by the governor annually to inspect 
the University, attend its examinations and report upon its 
condition and management to the governor and to the 
trustees. 

Tuition is free to all students except those attending the 
law school and residents of other States. The standard re¬ 
quired for admission is made as high as the condition of 
secondary education in the State allows. The lack of 

1 Under the State Constitution the legislature can make appro¬ 
priations for education only to the public schools and to the 
University of Georgia. 

2 A complimentary non-resident trusteeship was conferred in 
1900 upon Hon. George Foster Peabody of New York, in recogni¬ 
tion of liberal benefactions to the University. 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 


121 


sufficient preparatory schools is a serious obstacle to higher 
education in Georgia. The State provides elementary in¬ 
struction in the public schools and collegiate education in 
the University; the intermediate work must be done by 
private schools and by the high schools of the local systems. 
While the facilities provided in this way are excellent in a 
number of instances, in many parts of the State they are 
inadequate, and in others entirely lacking. The normal 
work of the University is doing much to remedy this de¬ 
fect. Many of the best private schools and high schools 
in the State are taught by its graduates. A Summer 
School, designed primarily for teachers, and open to both 
sexes, is conducted for six weeks during the summer 
months. In recent years the University has undertaken 
the co-ordination of the high-schools of the State with the 
University system, and has adopted the plan of accrediting 
schools that attain an established standard with the priv¬ 
ilege of issuing certificates which admit their students to 
the University without examination. 

The history of the University is closely intei’woven with 
that of the State. The roll of its alumni includes many 
of Georgia’s most distinguished sons. The good effects 
of its influence, so long and steadfastly exerted, would be 
hard to overestimate. 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE COURTS AND LEGAL RROCEDURE 

139. Cases at Law. —The courts of the State in the 
discharge of their duties deal with cases which fall into 
three classes: (1) Criminal cases, in which the State is the 
injured party or plaintiff, and seeks to inflict punishment 
for some violation of the law. (2) Civil cases, arising be¬ 
tween citizens, chiefly from the enforcement of contracts; 
from claims for damages for injury; in the adjudication 
of titles to land; petitions for divorce; and from claims 
of equitable rights, reliefs and remedies. (3) Probate 
cases, relating to matters of administration and guardian¬ 
ship, and which for the most part involve no contest. Such 
cases fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary. 

140. Procedure in Criminal Cases. —In bringing a 
violator of the law to justice, a part or all of the following 
legal steps may be involved: 

(a) The Affidavit, or Complaint. —On the supposed 
discovery of the identity of the criminal, any citizen may 
appear before a justice of the peace, and make on oath a 
formal accusation against him. 

(b) The Warrant. —The justice then issues a warrant 
for the arrest of the accused, stating the charge, and direct¬ 
ing any sheriff, deputy-sheriff or constable of the State 
to bring him into court. A warrant may be issued by a 
justice, without affidavit, upon his own motion. 

(c) The Arrest is made by the officer in the execution 
of this order. The prisoner in a bailable case may give 

122 


THE COURTS AJD LEGAL PROCEDURE 


123 


bond to the arresting officer for his appearance before the 
magistrate; in default of this he remains in custody. The 
officer may arrest without a warrant if the offence is com¬ 
mitted in his presence, or if the offender is attempting to 
escape. 

{d) The Examination is a preliminary investigation 
by a justice of the peace of the evidence against the ac¬ 
cused. A reasonable time is allowed both State and de¬ 
fendant to prepare for the preliminary trial. The prisoner 
may waive this trial and give bail or go to jail; but if he 
demands it, and it is unreasonably delayed, he may obtain 
a writ of habeas corpus from the superior court or the ordi¬ 
nary. 

The prisoner may not select the justice before whom the 
investigation is had, but he may decline to have the hear¬ 
ing by the one before whom he is brought. The arresting 
officer will then take him before another justice. The 
justice of the peace—there may be several—sitting as 
a court of inquiry ’’ hears the evidence. If there is 
probable cause to suspect the guilt of the accused, it is 
the duty of the justice to commit him; and he must com¬ 
mit for such offence as the evidence discloses, no matter 
what the warrant charges. 

(e) Bail. —Instead of going to jail the prisoner may 
give bail ’’ or get some responsible citizen or citizens to 
sign a bond as surety for his appearance at the summons 
of court. The amount of bail is fixed by the justice accord¬ 
ing to the gravity of the charge. Capital felonies are not 
bailable by the justice, but one in custody under such 
a charge may make a motion for trial before the judge of 
the superior court, who has power, in his discretion, to 
grant bail. 

(f) The Indictment. —At the next session of the supe¬ 
rior court in the county the solicitor-general frames an 


124 THE CIVIL GOVER^ME'NT OF GEORGIA 

indictment and lays it before the grand jury. The jury 
summons the State’s witnesses, hears their testimony in 
secret, and returns a “ true bill ” or “ no bill.” At least 
twelve must vote for a true bill. We have seen that the 
grand jury may find a true bill against a person of their 
own motion, without previous accusation. This is called 
a presentment, and has the same effect as an indictment. 
The bill is returned to court, entered on the minutes, and 
docketed for trial. 

After indictment or presentment, if the aceused is not 
already under arrest, a warrant is framed by the solicitor- 
general and signed by the judge, whence it is called a 

bench-warrant,” which is duly executed by the sheriff, 
who may in bailable cases take bond for the prisoner’s 
appearance. 

{g) The Arraignment. —The accused is in due course 
brought before the court and the indictment is formally 
read to him. He is given the benefit of counsel, and if 
without the means to employ a lawyer the court appoints 
one, who serves without fee, to defend him. He is for¬ 
mally asked whether he is guilty or not guilty of the 
offence charged. 

The arraignment except in capital cases is generally 
waived, the plea of not guilty ” signed by the solicitor- 
general and the defendant’s attorney, completing the issue. 

(/t) The Plea. —After consultation with his counsel the 
prisoner enters a plea of guilty ” or “ not guilty.” In the 
former case sentence is passed upon him without trial. In 
the latter, a time is set for trial. 

({) The Trial. —All crimes involving the death penalty 
or imprisonment in the penitentiary are tried in the supe¬ 
rior court.' The prosecution is conducted by the solicitor- 


1 Indictments or presentments for misdemeanors may be sent 
by order of court to a city or county court for trial. The so- 



THE COURTS AND LEGAL PROCEDURE 


125 


general. A jury of twelve men is selected from a panel 
drawn from the petit-jury list. Any number of the panel 
may be challenged or rejected by either party for good 
cause, and a certain number of peremptory challenges, 
varying with the nature of the crime, may be made by 
State and defendant.^ When selected, the jury is duly 
sworn to decide the case according to the evidence sub¬ 
mitted. The solicitor-general presents the case of the 
State, submitting evidence and sworn witnesses in sup¬ 
port of the prosecution. The attorney for the defendant 
then produces his evidence and witnesses. The prisoner 
may make a statement, not under oath, to~ which the jury 
may give such weight as they see fit. Arguments are 
offered from the evidence by the counsel of both sides. 
The solicitor-general has the opening and concluding ad¬ 
dress unless the defendant introduces no evidence, in which 
case the defence opens and concludes. 

The judge then reviews the evidence, though he must 
express no opinion as to its weight or relative importance, 
and cannot intimate what has or has not been proven, and 
instructs the jury in the law applicable to the case. 

Heitor of these courts may on affidavit and warrant frame an 
accusation on which trial may be had as on indictment or pre¬ 
sentment. In some of these courts the accused may demand in¬ 
vestigation by the grand jury and thus move the accusation to 
the superior court; in others he has not this privilege. 

1 In felonies there is a panel of 48; if the case involve capital 
punishment or four years in the penitentiary the defendant has 
20 peremptory challenges and the State 10. If a penalty of less 
than four years is involved the peremptory challenges allowed 
are 12 and 6 respectively. 

In misdemeanors the panel is 24; the defendant has 7 and the 
State 5 peremptory challenges. If the challenges exhaust the 
panel, the sheriff under the judge’s instruction will summon 
talesmen or draw a new panel. 



126 THE CIVIL GOVERyHEXT OF GEORGIA 

(j) The Verdict.—The jury usually retire to deliber¬ 
ate, although they may render a verdict without leaving the 
box. The verdict must be unanimous. The jury are kept 
by themselves in charge of an officer until such a decision 
is reached, or until it becomes evident that they cannot 
agree. In case of disagreement a mistrial is declared; 
there has been no trial, and the case has still to be tried; 
this cuts olf a plea of jeopardy.^ If the jury agree upon 
the verdict “ not guilty,^’ the prisoner is acquitted. He is 
then set at liberty, and cannot be tried again for the same 
offence. 

The Sentence.—If the jury agree upon the guilt 
of the prisoner it is the duty of the court to sentence him 
to the punishment prescribed by law for his offence. The 
judge in general is allowed a considerable degree of dis¬ 
cretion in fixing the penalty. After the sentence has been 
pronounced the prisoner is placed in the custody of the 
sheriff, to be safely kept until taken charge of by guards 
from the chain-gang or penitentiary. 

(/) The Appeal.—A new trial may be granted the de¬ 
fendant after a verdict of guilty, for reasons satisfactory to 
the court. If there has been any dispute as to the inter¬ 
pretation of the law, an appeal may be made, on a writ 
of error, to the supreme court. The refusal of the trial 
judge to grant a new trial may be assigned as an error of 
law, thus giving jurisdiction to the supreme court; and 
upon such writ of error, or bill of exceptions, a hearing 
may be had in that court. 

141. Civil Cases.—These arise between citizens or 
corporations; the State is not necessarily a party. The 
plaintiff files a petition in the proper court, stating his 
claim upon the defendant and the relief sought. A pro- 


1 See Art. Eect. I., Par. 8. 



THE COURTS A\D LEOAL PROCEDURE 127 

cess ” is issued, attached to the original petition, directing 
the defendant to appear in court. The petition must be 
filed twenty days before a term of the court. This is called 
the appearance term;’’ here the defendant must file his 
pleas and set up his defence. All exceptions to the plead¬ 
ings (demurrers) are heard and determined at that term. 
Six months later, or at the next session of court, comes the 

trial term,” when the case is submitted to a jury. All 
disputed points of law are decided by the judge, and his 
instructions (charge) to the jury are for them the law. 
Disputed facts are decided by the jury. The party hold¬ 
ing the affirmative of the issue, usually the plaintiff, opens 
and concludes. The jury after deliberation return a ver¬ 
dict, generally for the plaintiff,” stating the amount of 
damages, or “ for the defendant.” On the verdict the court 
enters a ‘^judgment;” and on the judgment the clerk 
issues an execution {fieri facias —fi. fa.). Should the de¬ 
fendant refuse or neglect to settle, the sheriff, armed with 
this process, levies upon, advertises and sells his property, 
and applies the proceeds to the satisfaction of the judg¬ 
ment and execution. 

In a land suit, if the jury find for the plaintiff, the 
execution takes the form of a writ of possession. 

Sometimes in equity cases several issues of fact are sub¬ 
mitted to the jury, and several issues of law to the court. 
Taking the different findings of the jury, and his decisions 
upon the law, the judge will formulate a judgment or de¬ 
cree. He may thus in a proper case order trust property 
to be sold; declare a mistake in a contract; recognize a 
fraud in the procurement of an instrument; order the con¬ 
tract reformed, or the instrument cancelled; direct one 
party specifically to perform his contract and compel him 
to execute a deed; restrain temporarily or perpetually one 
or more parties from doing some act; carry out a family 


128 THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OP GEORGIA 

settlement; always requiring the one party to perform the 
duty due to the other before receiving the benefit of the 
judgment (decree). 

The Authority of the Courts is maintained by the ex¬ 
ercise of the special powers given them by law. A judg¬ 
ment or decree at law is enforced by an execution against 
any or all of the property of the defendant. A judgment 
or decree in equity may be enforced in the same way, or by 
an attachment for “contempt” against the person. Any 
one who resists or obstructs a civil or criminal process 
may be punished for contempt of court, by fine or impris¬ 
onment or both at the discretion of the judge. 

It may be well to notice several special orders issuing 
from the superior court. A mandamus may be issued, 
upon the request of any citizen, commanding a civil officer 
or other person vested with authority, to perform some 
specific duty. A decree of specific performance is an order 
in equity directing any person to perform a stated act. 
An mjunction is an order issued upon proper application, 
to prevent or restrain the performance of some specified 
act, alleged to involve a wrong or injury. An injunction 
may be temporary or permanent. Disregard of any of 
these orders will bring the person offending into contempt 
of court. A receiver may be appointed to take charge of 
and manage property which is the subject of litigation 
until the determination of the case. 

142. Suits against the State. —A town, city, county or 
school board may be sued in the courts as corporations. 
The State in virtue of its sovereignty over its citizens, can¬ 
not be sued by them in the Federal courts. Nor can it be 
sued by citizens of another State or of a foreign country.^ 
It may, however, be sued in the United States Supreme 


1 Eleventh Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. 



THE COURTS AxYD LEGAL PROCEDURE 


129 


Court by another State, or by the Federal government. 

Some States allow themselves, by statute, to be sued in 
the State courts for special purposes. In Georgia such a 
suit can be brought only by a special Act of the General 
Assembly, permiting it. In such cases the court cannot 
enforce its judgment, and it rests with the General Assem¬ 
bly to carry it out or not. 


CHAPTER IX 

STATE FINANCES 


143. State Expenditures. —The principal items of ex¬ 
pense in the State budget are—(1) the salaries of its offi¬ 
cials, administrative and judicial; (2) the pay roll of the 
General Assembly; (3) public education; (4) pensions to 
Confederate soldiers, and their widows; (5) the interest 
and redemption of the public debt; X ^) charitable insti¬ 
tutions; (7) the maintenance of the volunteer forces, and 
(8) State buildings and public works. The total amount 
of the State’s expenditures is comparatively small, as the 
main burden of administration is borne by the county and 
municipal governments. The disbursements of the trea¬ 
sury for the year ending December 31, 1906, amounted to 
$4,714,509.64. Of this sum $280,000 covered all the cost 
of the civil establishment,^ including departmental and 
contingent expenses and public printing; $1,735,800 went 
to the support of the public schools, and $232,771 to other 
educational institutions. Pensions amounted to $909,940. 
The interest and payment on the public debt was $420,419. 
The legislative pay-roll was $69,466. Charitable institu¬ 
tions received $518,500; public buildings, including in¬ 
surance, $24,813, and the militia $36,000. These sums 
are small when compared with the wealth and population 

1 These figures give the actual disbursements. In some cases 
they include costs of the preceding year; in others only a part 
of those for the current year. 

130 



,^TATE FINANCES 


131 


of the State, or with the total expenditures of the local 
governments. 

144. Sources of Revenue. —The main revenue of the 
State is derived from a general uniform tax on all prop¬ 
erty, real and personal, which produces a greater income 
than all the other sources combined. The State tax rate 
is limited, by a Constitutional amendment of 1903, to five 
mills on the dollar of taxable property, except in time of 
war, invasion or insurrection. All property is assessed 
yearly by the taxpayers themselves, the returns being made 
to the tax-receivers of the various counties, who may re¬ 
fuse those which they believe untrue. Returns are made 
by filling out blanks containing minute specifications, de¬ 
signed both to aid the taxpayer in making a full return 
of his property, and to make concealment difficult. The 
questions asked in the blank are provided by statute. 
There are about forty separate questions, many containing 
several sub-questions. After every imaginable form of 
property has been specified, the taxpayer is required to 
give the value of all other property not herein men¬ 
tioned.” To this comprehensive list is attached a rigid 
oath which the taxpayer must take, affirming that he has 
truthfully answered every question, and has not attempted 
by transferring property or 1)y any other means, to evade 
the tax laws, and that he has returned the true worth and 
value of every species of property. 

An Act of 1874 provides that the tax-receiver of each 
county must, at the fall term of the superior court, lay 
his returns for the year before the grand jury, whose duty 
it is to examine them and assess at its true worth all prop¬ 
erty which they may find undervalued. This corrected 
digest is the tax-collector’s guide for the ensuing year. 
The system of taxation is placed under the supervision 
of the comptroller-general, who issues instructions to tax- 
9—Ga. 


132 


THE CIVIL OOVERyMENT OF OEOROIA 


receivers and collectors, describing the precise method of 
procedure on their part in the fulfilment of their duties, 
and securing uniformity and efficiency throughout the 
State. 

There are serious evils connected with this system of 
taxation which appear difficult or impossible to remedy. 
The worst is that the greater part of personal property, 
especially in the centres of population, where conceal¬ 
ment is easiest, escapes taxation. This class of property, 
including jewelry, stocks of goods and personal effects, 
notes, bonds, book-debts and mortgages, is extremely dif¬ 
ficult for the tax-officer to detect. The honest man who 
gives a truthful statement of his property is heavily bur¬ 
dened, while his less scrupulous neighbor, perhaps his 
rival in business, escapes. The result is a strong tempta¬ 
tion to evade the tax, and to compromise with conscience 
for the perjury and deception involved. Nothing could do 
more to demoralize the community and to put a premium 
on dishonesty. It further tends to throw the burden of 
taxation disproportionately on the poorer classes and on 
the rural districts of the State. Many economists advo¬ 
cate an abandonment of the attempt to tax these intan¬ 
gible forms of property and the substitution of other forms 
of taxation. 

Besides the general property tax, the State levies a poll 
tax of one dollar on each male citizen between the ages 
of twenty-one and sixty. Special taxes or licenses are 
required of certain corporations; of banks, railroads, ex¬ 
press and insurance companies, and also of persons en¬ 
gaged in various specified lines of business. The rental of 
the Western and Atlantic railroad, owned by the State, 
fees from the inspection of oil and fertilizers, the hire 
of convicts, the sale of wild lands, and various minor 


STATE FIFA'S CES 


133 


sourcGb add to tho income ot the State. The following 
statement, condensed from the report of the comptroller- 
general, will indicate the proportion in which the various 
sources contribute to the revenue: 


Treasury Receipts for year ending Dec. 31, 1906. 

General property tax . $2,286,197 

Rental Western and Atlantic R. R. 420,012 

Railroad and express companies. 402,842 

Hire of convicts. 340,011 

Poll tax . 278,297 

Liquor tax . 242,044 

Insurance taxes . 167,009 

Special and license taxes. 116,587 

Fees, fertilizers . 



42,602 


Fees, oils . 

Corporation tax .. .. 
Miscellaneous receipts 
Temporary loan .... 


28,084 

99,806 

80,000 


$4,503,491 


145. Exemptions from Taxation. —Certain restrictions 
are imposed by the Federal Constitution upon the taxing 
power of the States. They are forbidden to levy import 
or export duties, except with the special consent of Con¬ 
gress, in which case the proceeds must go to the Federal 
treasury. Nor can any State tax bonds or securities, issued 
by the United States government.^ 

iThis restriction has been held by the supreme court to apply 
to U. S. circulating notes, “ greenbacks,” treasury notes, and even 
national bank notes. In 1895, however, national bank notes were 
declared taxable by a special Act of Congress. 


















134 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


Various classes of property are further exempted from 
taxation by the laws of the State. Among these are pub¬ 
lic property; churches, cemeteries; the buildings, books, 
and apparatus of colleges and incorporated schools, and 
public libraries. All persons under twenty-one and over 
sixty years of age are exempted from the poll tax; and 
there are specified exemptions from road, jury and militia 
duty, which may be regarded as a form of taxation. All 
of these exemptions apply also to the taxes levied by the 
local governments. 

146. Method of Collecting State Taxes. —Some of the 
State taxes, such as those levied on railroads, insurance 
and express companies, are paid directly to the comp¬ 
troller-general ; but the general tax and most of the license 
and specific taxes are collected by the county officers. The 
general tax is collected at the same time as the county taxes. 
The specific taxes are due on the first of January or at the 
time of entering upon the business or profession taxed. 
The tax-collector retains the amounts due the county from 
the county rate and turns the rest over to the comptroller- 
general. Poll taxes were retained in the counties for school 
purposes up to the year 1895; but they are now returned 
with the other State taxes to the treasury. Municipal 
taxes are received and collected by the city clerk, or by 
special tax-officers. 

147. The State Debt. —The debt of the State at pres¬ 
ent aggregates $7,331,500, with annual interest amounting 
to $314,630. It is distributed in seven series of bonds, as 
-shown in the following statement: 


STATE Fl^AlACES 


135 



B 

Amount. 

Rate of 
Interest. 

Interest. 

Bonds issued under Act of 
1884, due 1915 . 

$3,392,000 

41 per cent. 

152,640 

Bonds issued under Act of 
1887, due $100,000 each year 
from 1898 . 

1,100,000 

4| 

U 

49,500 

Bonds issued under Act of 
1889, due $100,000 each year 
from 1917 . 

1,833,000 

31 

ii 

64,155 

Bonds issued under Act of 
1891, due 1912 . 

207,000 

41 

it 

9,315 

Bonds issued under Act of 
1894, due 1915. 

287,000 

31 

it 

10,045 

Bonds issued under Act of 
1895, due 1926 . 

230,000 

4 

« 

9,200 

Fifty-year obligations. Univer¬ 
sity of Georgia, under Act 
of 1881 . 

282,500 

7 


19,775 


$7,331,500 



314,630 


All of these issues except the last were made for the 
purpose of refunding maturing bonds at lower interest. 
The last simply makes provision for a safe investment of 
the funds of the University.^ 

The Constitution requires the General Assembly to raise 
annually by taxation the sum of $100,000, to be set aside 
and used as a sinking fund, to pay off and retire bonds of 
the State which have not matured. This fund can be used 
for no other purpose, but may be loaned by the governor, 
on the security of valid State bonds, if no unmatured 
bonds can be purchased at or below par. 

148. Restrictions on Borrowing.—The experience of 
reckless legislation in many of the States has led them to 


1 See note 2, page 118. 























136 


THE CIVIL GOVER^ME^T OF GEORGIA 


place constitutional limits both on the amount of State 
indebtedness and on the objects for which it can be in¬ 
curred. The Constitution of Georgia declares that no debt 
shall be created except to supply casual deficiencies of 
revenue, to repel invasion, suppress insurrection and de¬ 
fend the State in time of war, or to pay maturing bonds of 
the existing debt. A loan contracted to supply deficiencies 
in revenue is limited in amount to $200,000. 

The General Assembly is forbidden to authorize any 
county, town or city to contract a debt exceeding seven 
per cent, of the assessed value of its taxable property; 
and any debt exceeding one-fifth of one per cent, of such 
value must be authorized by a two-thirds vote of the quali¬ 
fied voters at an election held for the purpose. An annual 
tax must then be provided, sufficient to pay the principal 
and interest within thirty years. 


CONSTITUTIOX OF THE STATE OF GEOKGIA 


Preamble. 

To perpetuate the principles of free j^overninent, insure justice 
to all, preserve peace, promote the interests and happiness of the 
citizen, and transmit to posterity the enjoyment of liberty, we, 
the people of Georgia, relying upon the protection and guidance 
of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution. 

ARTICLE I. 

Bill of Rights. 

Section I. 

1. All government, of right, originates with the people, is 
founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good 
of the whole. Public officers are the trustees and servants of the 
people, and at all times amenable to them. 

2. Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of 
government, and shall be impartial and complete. 

3. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, 
except by due process of law. 

4. No person shall be deprived of the right to prosecute or de¬ 
fend his own cause in any of the Courts of this State, in person, 
by attorney, or both. 

5. Every person charged with an offence against the laws of 
this State shall have the privilege and benefit of counsel; shall 
be furnished, on demand, with a copy of the accusation and a 
list of the witnesses on whose testimony the charge against him 
is founded; shall have compulsoiy process to obtain the testi¬ 
mony of his own witnesses;^ shall be confronted with the wit¬ 
nesses testifying against him, and shall have a public and 
speedy trial by an impartial jury. 

6. No person shall be compelled to give testimony tending in 
any way to criminate himself. 

137 


138 


THE CIVIL GOVERLiME'ST OF GEORGIA 


7. Neither banishment beyond the limits of the State, nor 
whipping, as a punishment for crime, shall be allowed. 

8. No person shall be put in jeopardy of life or liberty, more 
than once for the same offence, save on his, or her, own motion 
for a new trial after conviction, or in case of mistrial. 

9. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im¬ 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted; nor shall any 
person be abused, in being arrested, while under arrest, or in 
prison. 

10. No person shall be compelled to pay costs, except after con¬ 
viction on final trial. 

11. The writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended. 

12. All men have tlie natural and inalienable right to worship 
God, each according to the dictates of his own conscience, and no 
human authority should, in any case, control or interfere with 
such right of conscience. 

13. No inhabitant of this State shall be molested in person or 
property, or prohibited from holding any public office or trust, on 
account of his religious opinions; but the right of liberty of con¬ 
science shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentious¬ 
ness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety 
of the State. 

14. No money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, 
directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect or denomination 
of religionists, or of any sectarian institution. 

15. No law shall ever be passed to curtail, or restrain, the 
liberty of speech or of the press; any person may speak, w'rite 
and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for 
the abuse of that liberty. 

16. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and 
seizures shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue except 
upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particu¬ 
larly describing the place or places to be searched, and the per¬ 
son or things to be seized. 

17. There shall be within the State of Georgia neither slavery 
nor involuntary servitude, save as a punishment for crime after 
legal conviction thereof. 

18. The social status of the citizen shall never be the subject of 
legislation. 

19. The civil authority shall be superior to the military, and 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 139 


no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, except by 
the civil magistrate, in such manner as may be provided by law. 

20. The power of the Courts to punish for contempt shall be 
limited by legislative acts. 

21. There shall be no imprisonment for debt. 

22. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed, but the General Assend)ly shall have power to pre¬ 
scribe the manner in which arms may be borne. 

23. The legislative, judicial and executive powers shall for¬ 
ever remain separate and distinct, and no person discharging the 
duties of one shall at the same time exercise the functions of 
either of the others, except as herein provided. 

24. The people have the right to assemble peaceably for their 
common good, and to apply to those vested with the powers of 
government for redress of grievances by petition or remonstrance. 

25. All citizens of the United States, resident in this State, are 
hereby declared citizens of this State; and it shall be the duty 
of the General Assembly to enact such laws as will protect them 
ill the full enjoyment of the rights, privileges and immunities due 
to such citizenship. 

Section II. 

1. In all prosecutions or indictments for libel, the truth may 
be given in evidence; and the jury in all criminal cases shall be 
the judges of the law and the facts. The power of the Judges 
to grant new trials in case of conviction is preserved. 

2. Treason against the State of Georgia shall consist in levy¬ 
ing war against her, adhering to her enemies, giving them aid 
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason except on 
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confes¬ 
sion in open Court. 

3. No conviction shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture 
of estate. 

4. All lotteries, and the sale of lottery tickets, are hereby pro¬ 
hibited; and this prohibition shall be enforced by penal laws. 

5. Lobbying is declared to be a crime, and the General Assem¬ 
bly shall enforce tliis provision by suitable penalties. 

6. The General Assembly shall have the power to provide for 
the punishment of fraud; and shall provide, by law, for reaching 
property of the debtor concealed from the creditor. 



140 


THE CIVIL aOVER^'ME^T OF GEORGIA 


Section III. 

1. In cases of necessity, private ways may be granted upon 
just compensation being first paid by the applicant. Private 
property shall not be taken or damaged, for public purposes, 
without just and adequate compensation being first paid. 

2. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, retroactive law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, or making irrevocable 
grants of special privileges or immunities, shall be passed. 

3. No grant of special privileges or immunities shall be re¬ 
voked, except in such manner as to work no injustice to the 
corporators or creditors of the incorporation. 

Section IV. 

1. Laws of a general nature shall have uniform operation 
throughout the State, and no special law shall be enacted in any 
case for which provision has been made by an existing general 
law. No general law affecting private rights shall be varied in 
any particular case by special legislation, except with the free 
consent, in writing, of all persons affected thereby; and no per¬ 
son under legal disability to contract is capable of such consent. 

2. Legislative Acts in violation of this Constitution, or the 
Constitution of the United States, are void, and the Judiciary 
shall so declare them. 

Section V. 

1. The people of this State have the inherent, sole and ex¬ 
clusive right of regulating their internal government, and the pro¬ 
lice thereof, and of altering and abolishing their Constitution 
whenever it may be necessary to their safety and happiness. 

2. The enumeration of rights herein contained, as a part of 
this Constitution, shall not be construed to deny to the people 
any inherent rights which they may have hitherto enjoyed. 


ARTICLE II. 

ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. 

Section I. (Amendment of 1908.) 

1. Elections by tlie people shall be by ballot, and only those 
persons shall be allowed to vote who have been first registered 
in accordance with the requirements of law. 




COySTITUTIOX OF TTIF fiTATE OP GEORGIA 141 


2. Every male citizen of tlie State who is a citizen of the 

United States, twenty-one years old or upwards, not laboring 
under any of the disabilities named in this article, and pos¬ 
sessing the qualifications provided by it, shall be an elector and 
entitled to register and vote at any election by the people; pro¬ 
vided, that no soldier, sailor, or marine in the military or naval 
services of the United States shall acquire the rights of an 
elector by reason of being stationed on duty in this State. 

3. To entitle a person to register and vote at any election by 

the people, he shall have resided in the State one year next pre¬ 
ceding the election, and in the county in which he offers to 
vote six months next preceding the election, and shall have 
paid all taxes which may have been required of him since the 
adoption of the Constitution of 1877 that he may have had an 
opportunity of paying agreeably to law. Such payment must 
have been made at least six months prior to the election at 

which he offers to vote, except when such elections are held 

within six months from the expiration of the time fixed by law 
for the payment of such taxes. 

4. Every male citizen of this State shall be entitled to regis¬ 
ter as an elector and to vote in all elections of said State who 
is not disqualified under the provisions of Section II. of Article 
II. of this Constitution, and who possesses the qualifications pre¬ 
scribed in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this section or who will possess 
them at the date of the election occuring next after his regis¬ 
tration, and who in addition thereto comes within either of the 
classes provided for in the five following sub-divisions of this 
paragraph. 

a. All persons who have honorably served in the land or 
naval forces of the United States in the Revolutionary war, or 
in the War of 1812, or in the war with Mexico, or in any war 
with the Indians or in the War betw^een the States, or in the 
War with Spain, or who honorably served in the land or naval 
forces of the Confederate States, or of the State of Georgia in 
the War between the States, or 

b. All persons lawfully descended from those embraced in 
the classes enumerated in the sub-division next above, or 

c. All persons who are of good character, and understand the 
duties and obligations of citizenship under a republican form 
of government; or 

d. All persons who can correctly read in the English language 



142 


THE CIVIL GOVERyMEXT OF GEORGIA 


any paragraph of the Constitution of tlie United States or of 
this State and correctly write the same in the English language 
when read to them by any one of the registrars, and all persons 
who solely because of physical disability ara unable to comply 
with the above requirements, but who can understand and give 
a reasonable interpretation of any paragraph of the Consti¬ 
tution of the United States or of this State, that may be read 
to them by any one of the registrars; or 

e. Any person who is the owner in good faith in his own right 
of at least forty acres of land situated in this State, upon wdiich 
he resides, or is the owner in good faith in his owm right of 
property, situated in this State and assessed for taxation at 
the value of five hundred dollars. 

5. The right to register under sub-divisions a and b of para¬ 
graph 4 shall continue only until January 1, 1915. But the 
registrars shall prepare a roster of all persons who register under 
sub-divisions a and b of paragraph 4, and shall return the same 
to the clerk’s office of the Superior Court of their counties and 
the Clerks of the Superior Court shall send copies of the same 
to the Secretary of State, and it shall be the duty of these 
officers to record and permanently preserve these rosters. Any 
person who has been once registered under either of the sub¬ 
divisions a or b of paragraph 4 shall thereafter be permitted to 
vote; provided, he meets the requirements of paragraphs 2 and 3 
of this section. 

G. Any person to -whom the right of registration is denied by 
the registrars upon the ground that he lacks the qualifications 
set forth in the five sub-divisions of paragraph 4, shall have the 
right to take an appeal, and any citizen may enter an appeal 
from the decision of the registrars allowing any person to register 
under said sub-divisions. All api)eals must be filed in writing 
with the registrars within ten days from the date of the de¬ 
cision complained of and shall be returned by the registrars to 
the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court to be tried as other 
appeals. 

7. Pending an appeal and until the final decision of the case, 
the judgment of the registrars shall remain in full force. 

8. No person shall be allowed to participate in a primary of 
any political party or a convention of any political party in 
this State who is not a qualified voter. 

9. The machinery provided by law for the registration of 



CONSTITUTroy OF THE ETATE OF OEOEOJA 143 


force October 1, 1008, sliall be used to carry out the provisions 
of this section, except where inconsistent with same; the Legis¬ 
lature may change or amend the registration laws from time to 
time, but no such cliange or amendment shall operate to de¬ 
feat any of the provisions of this section. * 

Section II. 

I. The General Assembly may provide, from time to time, for 
the registration of all electors, but the following classes of per¬ 
sons shall not be permitted to register, vote or hold any office, or 
appointment of honor or trust in this State, to wit: 1st. Those 
who shall have been convicted, in any Court of competent juris¬ 
diction, of treason against the State, of embezzlement of public 
funds, malfeasance in office, bribery or larceny, or of any crime 
involving moral turpitude, punishable by the laws of this State 
with imprisonment in the penitentiary, unless such person shall 
have been pardoned. 2d. Idiots and insane persons. 

Section III. 

1. Electors shall, in all cases except for treason, felony, larceny 
and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their 
attendance on elections, and in going to and returning from the 
same. 

Section IV. 

1. No person who is the holder of any public money, contrary 
to law, shall be eligible to any office in this State until the same 
is accounted for and paid into the treasury. 

2. No person, who, after the adoption of this Constitution, be¬ 
ing a resident of this State, shall have been convicted of fighting 
a duel in this State, or convicted of sending or accepting a chal¬ 
lenge, or convicted of aiding or abetting such duel, shall hold 
office in this State, unless he shall have been pardoned; and every 
such person shall also be subject to such punishment as may be 
prescribed by law. 

Section V. 

1. The General Assembly shall, by law, forbid the sale, distri¬ 
bution, or furnishing of intoxicating drinks within two miles of 
election precincts on days of election—State, county or munic¬ 
ipal—and prescribe punishment for any violation of the same. 



144 


THE CIVIL aoVEnyUE^^T OF GEOEOIA 


Section VI. 

1. Returns of elections for all civil officers elected by the peo¬ 
ple, who are to he commissioned hy the Governor, and also for 
the menihers of the General Assembly, shall he made to the Sec¬ 
retary of State, unless otherwise provided hy law. 


ARTICLE III. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section I. 

1. The legislative power of the State shall he vested in a 
General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of 
Representatives. 

Section II. 

1. The Senate shall consist of forty-four members. There 
shall be forty-four Senatorial districts as now arranged by 
counties. Each district shall have one Senator.! 

The First Senatorial District shall be composed of the counties 
of Chatham, Bryan and Effingham. 

The Second Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Liberty, Tattnall, McIntosh and Toombs. 

The Third Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Wayne, Pierce, Appling and Jeff Davis. 

The Fourth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Glynn, Camden and Charlton. 

The Fifth Senatorial District shall be composed of the counties 
of Coffee, Ware and Clinch. 

The Sixth Senatorial District shall be composed of the counties 
of Echols, Lowndes, Berrien and Tift. 

The Seventh Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Brooks, Thomas, Colquitt and Grady. 

The Eighth Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Decatur, Mitchell and Miller. 

The Ninth Senatorial District shall be composed of the counties 
of Early, Calhoun and Baker. 

I The Tenth Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Dougherty, Lee, Worth and Turner. 


! The districts are given as rearranged in 1906. 





CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 145 


The Eleventh Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Clay, Randolph and Terrell. 

The Twelfth Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Stewart, Webster and Quitman. 

The Thirteenth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Sumter, Schley and Macon. 

The Fourteenth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Dooly, Wilcox, Pulaski, Crisp and Ben Hill. 

The Fifteenth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Montgomery, Telfair, Irwin and Dodge. 

The Sixteenth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Laurens, Emanuel and Johnson. 

The Seventeenth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Screven, Bulloch, Burke and Jenkins. 

The Eighteenth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Richmond, Glascock and Jefferson. 

The Nineteenth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Taliaferro, Greene and Warren. 

The Twentieth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Baldwin, Hancock and Washington. 

The Twenty-first Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Twiggs, Wilkinson and Jones. 

The Twenty-second Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Bibb, Monroe and Pike. 

The Twenty-third Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Houston, Crawford and Taylor. 

The Twenty-fourth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Muscogee, Marion and Chattahoochee. 

The Twenty-fifth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Harris, Upson and Talbot. 

The Twenty-sixth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Spalding, Butts and Fayette. 

The Twenty-seventh Senatorial District shall be composed of 
the counties of Newton, Walton, Oconee and Rockdale. 

The Twenty-eighth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Jasper, Putnam and Morgan. 

The Twenty-ninth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Wilkes, Columbia, Lincoln and McDuffie. 

The Thirtieth Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Oglethorpe, Madison, Elbert and Clarke. 





146 


THE CIVIL GOVERVIME^T OF GEOROJA 


The Thirty-first Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Hart, Habersham, Franklin and Stephens. 

Tlie Thirty-second Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of White, Dawson and Lumpkin. 

The Thirty-third Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Hall, Banks and Jackson. 

The Thirty-fourth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Gwinnett, DeKalb and Henry. 

The Thirty-fifth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Clayton, Cobb and Fulton. 

The Thirty-sixth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Campbell, Coweta, Meriwether and Douglas. 

The Thirty-seventh Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Carroll, Heard and Troup. 

The Thirty-eighth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Haralson, Poke and Paulding. 

The Thirty-ninth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Milton, Cherokee and Forsyth. 

The Fortieth Senatorial District shall be composed of the coun¬ 
ties of Union, Towns and Eabun. 

The Forty-first Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Pickens, Fannin and Gilmer. 

The Forty-second Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Bartow, Floyd and Chattooga. 

The Forty-third Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Murray, Gordon and Whitfield. 

The Forty-fourth Senatorial District shall be composed of the 
counties of Walker, Dade and Catoosa. 

2. The General Assembly may change these districts after each 
census of the United States: Provided, that neither the number 
of districts nor the number of Senators from each district shall 
oe increased 

Section III. 

1. (As amended to 1008). The House of Bepresentatives shall 
consist of one hundred and eighty-four Bepresentatives, appor¬ 
tioned among the several counties as follows, to wit: To the six 
counties having the largest population, viz.: Chatham, Bichmond, 
Thomas, Floyd, Bibb and Fulton, three Bepresentatives each; to 
the twenty-six counties having the next largest population, viz.: 
Dooly, Bartow, Bullock, Burke, Coweta, Decatur, Elbert, Eman- 



COXSTITUTIOX OF THE STATE OF OEOROIA 147 


Tiel, IToiision, Gwinnett, Laurens, Lowndes, Meriwether, Monroe, 
j\[iisco"ee, DeKalb, Hall, Walton, Sumter, Tattnall, Troup, Wash¬ 
ington, Carroll, Cobb, Jackson and Wilkes, two Representatives 
each; and to the remaining one hundred and fourteen counties 
one Representative each. 

2. The above apportionment shall be changed by the General 
Assembly at its first session after each census taken by the 
United States Government, so as to give the six counties having 
the largest population three Representatives each; and to the 
twenty-six counties having the next largest population two Rep¬ 
resentatives each; but in no event shall the aggregate number 
of Representatives be increased. 

Section IV. 

1. The members of the General Assembly shall be elected for 
two years, and shall serve until their successors are elected. 

2. The first election for members of the General Assembly, un¬ 
der this Constitution, shall take place on the first Wednesday in 
December, 1877; the second election for the same shall be held 
on the first Wednesday in October, 1880, and subsequent elections 
biennially on that day, until the day of election is changed by 
law. 

3. The first meeting of the General Assembly, after the ratifi¬ 
cation of this Constitution, shall be on the fourth Wednesday in 
October, 1878, and annually thereafter, on the same day, until the 
day shall be changed by law.i But nothing herein contained 
shall be construed to prevent the Governor from calling an extra 
session of the General Assembly before the first Wednesday in 
November, 1878, if, in his opinion, the public good shall re¬ 
quire it. 

4. A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to 
transact business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day 
to day and compel the presence of its absent members as each 
House may provide. 

5. Each Senator and Representative, before taking his seat, 
shall take the following oath, or affirmation, to wit: “ I will sup¬ 
port the Constitution of this State, and of the United States; 
and on all questions and measures which may come before me, I 

’ Changed in 1902 to the fourth Wednesday in June. 

10—Ga. 





148 


THE CIVIL COVER^^MEyT OF GEORGIA 


will so conduct myself as will, in my judgment, be most con¬ 
ducive to the interests and prosperity of this State.” 

6. No session of the General Assembly shall continue longer 
than fifty days: Provided, that if an impeachment trial be 
pending at the end of fifty days, the session may be prolonged till 
the completion of said trial. 

7. No person holding a military commission or other appoint¬ 
ment or office, having any emolument or compensation annexed 
thereto, under this State or the United States, or either of them, 
except Justices of the Peace and officers of the Militia, nor any 
defaulter for public money, or for any legal taxes required of 
him, shall have a seat in either House; nor shall any Senator 
or Kepresentative after his qualification as such, be elected by 
the General Assembly, or appointed by the Governor, either with 
or without the advice and consent of the Senate, to any office 
or appointment having any emolument annexed thereto, during 
the time for which he shall have been elected. 

8. The seat of a member of either House shall be vacated on 
his removal from the district or county from which he was 
elected. 

Section V. 

1. The Senators shall be citizens of the United States, who 
have attained the age of twenty-five years, and who shall have 
been citizens of this State for four years, and for one year resi¬ 
dents of the district from which elected. 

2. The presiding officer of the Senate shall be styled the Presi¬ 
dent of the Senate, and shall be elected viva voce from the Sena¬ 
tors. 

3. The Senate shall have the sole power to try impeachments. 

4. When sitting for that purpose, the members shall be on oath 
or affirmation, and shall be presided over by the Chief Justice, or 
the presiding Justice of the Supreme Court. Should the Chief 
Justice be disqualified, the Senate shall select the Judge of the 
Supreme Court to preside. No person shall be convicted without 
the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

5. Judgments, in case of impeachment, shall not extend further 
than removal from office and disqualifications to hold and enjoy 
any office of honor, trust or profit, within this State; but the 
party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indict¬ 
ment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law. 



COXSTITUTION OF THE ^TATE OF GEORGIA 149 


Section VI. 

1. The Representatives shall be citizens of the United States 
who have attained the age of twenty-one years, and who shall 
have been citizens of this State for two years, and for one year 
residents of the counties from which elected. 

2. The j)residing oflicer of the House of Representatives shall 
be stjded the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and shall 
be elected viva voce from the body. 

3. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power to 
impeach all persons who shall have been, or may be, in office. 

i 

Section VII. 

1. Each House shall be the judge of the election, returns and 
qualifications of its members, and shall have power to punish 
them for disorderly behavior, or misconduct, by censure, fine, 
imprisonment, or expulsion; but no member shall be expelled, 
except by a vote of two-thirds of the House to which he belongs. 

2. Each House may punish by imprisonment, not extending 
beyond the session, any person, not a member, who shall be guilty 
of a contempt, by any disorderly behavior in its presence, or who 
shall rescue or attempt to rescue, any person arrested by order of 
either House. 

3. The members of both Houses shall be free from arrest during 
their attendance on the General Assembly and in going thereto or 
returning therefrom, except for treason, felony, larceny, or breach 
of the peace; and no member shall be liable to answer in any 
other place for anything spoken in debate in either House. 

4. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and pub¬ 
lish it immediately after its adjournment. 

5. The original journal shall be preserved, after publication, in 
the office of Secretary of State, but there shall be no other record 
thereof. 

6. The yeas and nays on any question shall, at the desire of 
one-fifth of the members present, be entered on the journal. 

7. Every bill, before it shall pass, shall be read three times, and 
on three separate days, in each House, unless in case of actual 
invasion or insurrection. But the first and second reading of 
each local bill and bank and railroad charters in each House shall 
consist of tbe reading of the title only, unless said bill is ordered 
to be engrossed. 



150 


THE CIVIL GOVER^^ME^T OF CEORCIA 


8. No law or ordinance shall pass which refers to more than 
one subject-matter, or contains, matter different from what is 
expressed in tlie title thereof. 

9. The general appropriation bill shall embrace nothing except 
appropriations fixed by previous laws, the ordinary expenses of 
the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Departments of the Gov¬ 
ernment, payment of the public debt and interest thereon, and the 
support of the public institutions and educational interests of 
the State. All other appropriations shall be made by separate 
bills, each embracing but one subject. 

10. All bills for raising revenue or appropriating money shall 
originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may 
propose or concur in amendments as in other bills. 

11. No money shall be drawn from the treasury except by ap¬ 
propriation made by law, and a regular statement and account of 
the receipt and expenditure of all public money shall be published 
every three months, and also with the laws passed by each ses¬ 
sion of the General Assembly. 

12. No bill or resolution appropriating money shall become a 
law, unless, upon its passage, the yeas and iiaj’s in each House 
are recorded. 

13. All Acts shall be signed by the President of the Senate and 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and no bill, ordi¬ 
nance or resolution, intended to have the effect of law, which 
shall have been rejected by either House, shall be again proposed 
during the same session, under the same or any other title, with¬ 
out the consent of two-thirds of the House by which the same 
was rejected. 

14. No bill shall become a law unless it shall receive a ma¬ 
jority of the votes of all the members elected to each House of 
the General Assembly, and it shall, in every instance, so appear 
on the journal. 

15. [By an act approved September 24, 1885, an amendment to 
the Constitution was submitted to vote of the people in October, 
1886, and adopted, whereby the original of this paragraph was 
stricken from this Constitution.] 

16. No local or special bill shall be passed, unless notice of the 
intention to apply therefor shall have been published in the lo¬ 
cality where the matter, or thing, to be affected may be situated, 
which notice shall be given at least tliirty days prior to the in¬ 
troduction of such bill into the General Assembly and in the man- 



COXSTITUTIOX OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 151 


ner to be prescribed by law. The evidence of such notice having 
been pul)lished shall be exhibited in the General Assembly before 
such Act shall be passed. 

17. No law, or section of the Code, shall be amended or re- 
j)ealed by mere reference to its title, or to the number of the sec¬ 
tion of the Code, but the amending or repealing Act shall dis- 
tinctl}" describe the law to be amended or repealed, as well as 
the alteration to be made. 

18. The General Assembly shall have no power to grant corpo¬ 
rate powers and privileges to private companies; nor to make or 
change election precincts; nor to establish bridges or ferries; nor 
to change names of legitimate children; but it shall prescribe by 
law the manner in which such powers shall be exercised by the 
Courts. All corporate powers and privileges to banking, insur¬ 
ance, railroad, canal, navigation, express and telegraph com- 
j)anies shall be issued and granted by the Secretary of State, in 
such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 

19. The General Assembly shall have no power to relieve prin¬ 
cipals or securities upon forfeited recognizances, from the pay¬ 
ment thereof, either before or after judgment thereon, unless the 
principal in the recognizance shall have been apprehended and 
placed in the custody of the proper officer. 

20. The General Assembly shall not authorize the construction 
of any street passenger railway within the limits of any incorpo¬ 
rated town or city without the consent of the corporate authori¬ 
ties. 

21. Whenever the Constitution requires a vote of two-thirds of 
either or both Houses for the passage of an Act or resolution, the 
yeas and nays on the passage thereof shall be entered on the 
journal. 

22. The General Assembly shall have power to make all laws 
and ordinances consistent with this Constitution, and not repug¬ 
nant to the Constitution of the United States, which they shall 
deem necessary and proper for the welfare of the State. 

23. No provision in this Constitution, for a two-thirds vote of 
both Houses of the General Assembly, shall be construed to waive 
the necessity for the signature of the Governor, as in any other 
case except in the case of the two-thirds’ vote required to over¬ 
ride the veto, and in case of prolongation of a session of the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly. 

24. Neither House shall adjourn for more than three days, or 



152 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


to any other ])lace, without the consent of the other; and in case 
of a disagreement between the two Houses on a question of 
adjournment, the Governor may adjourn either or both of them. 

Section VIII. 

I. The officers of the two Houses, otlier than the President and 
Speaker, shall be a Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the 
House of Pepresentatives, and such assistants as they may ap¬ 
point; but the clerical expenses of the Senate shall not exceed 
sixty dollars per day for each session, nor those of the House of 
Representatives seventy dollars per day for each session. The 
Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representa¬ 
tives shall be required to give bond and security for the faithful 
discharge of their respective duties. 

Section IX. 

1. The per diem of members of the General Assembly shall not 
exceed four dollars, and mileage shall not exceed ten cents for 
each mile travelled, by the nearest practicable route, in going to 
and returning from the capital; but the President of the Senate 
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each re¬ 
ceive not exceeding seven dollars per day. 

Section X. 

1. All elections by the General Assembly shall be viva voce, and 
the vote shall appear on the journal of the House of Representa¬ 
tives. When the Senate and House of Representatives unite for 
the purpose of elections, they shall meet in the Representative 
Hall, and the President of the Senate shall, in such cases, preside 
and declare the result. 

Section XI. 

1. All property of the wife at the time of her marriage, and all 
property given to, inherited or acquired by her, shall remain her 
separate property, and not be liable for the debts of her husband. 

Section XII. 

I. All life insurance companies now doing business in the State, 
or which may desire to establish agencies and do business in the 
State of Georgia, chartered by other States of the Union, or for¬ 
eign States, shall show that they have deposited with the Comp¬ 
troller-General of the State in which they are chartered, or of 


CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 153 


this State, the Insurance Commissioners, or such other officers 
as may be authorized to receive it, not less than one hundred 
thousand dollars, in such securities as may be deemed by such 
officer equivalent to cash, subject to his order, as a guarantee 
fund for the security of policy-holders. 

2. When such showing is made to the Comptroller-General of 
the State of Georgia by a proper certificate from the State official 
having charge of the funds so deposited, the Comptroller-General 
of file State of Georgia is authorized to issue to the comi)any 
making such showing a license to do business in the State, upon 
paying the fees required by law. 

3. All life insurance companies chartered by the State of Geor¬ 
gia, or which may hereafter be chartered by the State, shall, be¬ 
fore doing business, deposit with the Comptroller-General of the 
State of Georgia, or with some strong corjjoration, which may be 
approved by said Comptroller-General, one hundred thousand dol¬ 
lars, in such securities as may be deemed by him equivalent to 
cash, to be subject to his order, as a guarantee fund for the 
security of the policy-holders of the company making such de¬ 
posit, all interests and dividends arising from such securities to 
be paid, when due, to the company so depositing. Any such se¬ 
curities as may be needed or desired by the company may be 
taken from said department at any time by replacing them with 
other securities equally acceptable to the Comptroller-General, 
whose certificate for the same shall be furnished to the company. 

4. The General Assembly shall, from time to time, enact laws 
to compel all fire insurance companies doing business in this 
State, whether chartered by this State or otherwise, to deposit 
reasonable securities with the Treasurer of this State, to secure 
the people against loss by the operations of said companies. 

5. The General Assembly shall compel all insurance companies 
in this State, or doing business therein, under proper penalties, 
to make semi-annual reports to the Governor, and print the same, 
at their own expense, for the information and protection of the 
people. 



154 


THE CIVIL COVERSME^T OF GEORCIA 


ARTICLE IV. 

POWER OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OVER TAXATION. 

Section I. 

1. The riglit of taxation is a sovereign right, inalienable, inde¬ 
structible, is the life of the State, and rightfully belongs to the 
people in all Republican governments, and neither the General 
Asseynbly, nor any, nor all other departments of the Government, 
established by this Constitution, shall ever have the authority to 
irrevocably give, grant, limit or restrain this right; and all laws, 
grants, contracts, and all other acts whatsoever, by said Govern¬ 
ment, or any department thereof, to effect any of these purposes, 
shall be, and are hereby declared to be, null and void for every 
purpose whatever; and said right of taxation shall always be un¬ 
der the complete control of, and revocable by, the State, notwith¬ 
standing any gift, grant or contract whatsoever by the General 
Assembly. 

Section II. 

1. The power and authority of regulating railroad freiglits and 
passenger tariffs, preventing unjust discriminations, and re¬ 
quiring reasonable and just rates of freight and passenger tariffs, 
are hereby conferred upon the General Assembly, whose duty it 
shall be to pass laws, from time to time, to regulate freight and 
passenger tariffs, to prohibit unjust discriminations on the vari¬ 
ous railroads of this State, and to prohibit said roads from 
charging other than just and reasonable rates, and enforce the 
same by adequate penalties. 

2. The exercise of the right of eminent domain shall never be 
abridged, nor so construed as to prevent the General Assembly 
from taking the property and franchises of incorporated com¬ 
panies, and subjecting them to public use, the same as property 
of individuals; and the exercise of the police power of the State 
shall never be abridged, nor so construed as to permit corpora¬ 
tions to conduct their business in such a manner as to infringe 
the equal rights of individuals, or the general well-being of the 
State. 

3. The General Assembly shall not remit the forfeiture of the 
charter of any corporation now existing, nor alter or amend the 
same, nor pass any other general or special law for the benefit of 
said corporation, except upon the condition that said corporation 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 155 


shall thereafter hold its charter subject to the provisions of this 
Constitution; and every amendment of any charter of any corpo¬ 
ration in this State, or any special law for its benefit, accepted 
thereby, shall operate as a novation of said charter, and shall 
bring the same under the provisions of this Constitution: Pro¬ 
vided, That this section shall not extend to any amendment for 
the purpose of allowing any existing road to take stock in or 
aid in the building of any branch road. 

4. The General Assembly of this State shall have no ])ower to 
authorize any corporation to buy shares or stock in any other cor¬ 
poration in this State, or elsewhere, or make any contract, or 
agreement whatever, with any such corporation, which may have 
the effect, or be intended to have the effect, to defeat or lessen 
competition in their respective businesses, or to encourage monop¬ 
oly; and all such contracts and agreements shall be illegal and 
void. 

5. No railroad company shall give, or pay, any rebate, or bonus 
in the nature thereof, directly or indirectly, or do any act to mis¬ 
lead or deceive the public as to the real rates charged or received 
for freights or passage; and any such payments shall be illegal and 
void, and these prohibitions shall be enforced by suitable pen¬ 
alties. 

6. No provision of this article shall be deemed, held or taken 
to impair the obligation of any contract heretofore made by the 
State of Georgia. 

7. The General Assembly shall enforce the provisions of this 
article by appropriate legislation. 


ARTICLE V. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Section I. 

1. The officers of the Executive Department shall consist of a 
Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller-General and Treasurer. 

2. The Executive power shall be vested in a Governor, who 
shall hold his office during the term of two years, and until his 
successor shall be chosen and qualified. He shall not be eligible 
to re-election, after the expiration of a second term, for the 
period of four years. He shall have a salary of three thousand i 


1 Made $5,000 in 1904. 






156 


THE CIVIL COVERXMEXT OF GEORGIA 


dollars per annum (until otherwise provided by a law passed 
by a two-thirds vote of both branches of the General Assembly), 
which shall not be increased or diminished during the period 
for which he shall have been elected; nor shall he receive within 
that time, any other emolument from the United States, or either 
of them, or from any foreign power. But this reduction of sal¬ 
ary shall not apply to the present term of the present Governor. 

3. The first election for Governor, under the Constitution, shall 
be held on the first \\ ednesday in October, 1880, and the Gov¬ 
ernor-elect shall be installed in oflice at the next session of the 
General Assembly. An election shall take place biennially there¬ 
after on said day, until another date be fixed by the General As¬ 
sembly. Said election shall be held at the places of holding gen¬ 
eral elections in the several counties of this State, in the manner 
prescribed for the election of members of the General Assembly, 
and the electors shall be the same. 

4. The returns for every election of Governor shall be sealed up 
by the managers, separately from other returns, and directed to 
the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, and transmitted to the Secretary of State, who shall, 
without opening said returns, cause the same to be laid before the 
Senate on the day after the two Houses shall have been organized, 
and they shall be transmitted by the Senate to the House of 
Bepresentatives. 

5. The members of each branch of the General Assembly shall 
convene in the Bepresentative Hall, and the President of the Sen¬ 
ate and Speaker of the House of Representatives shall open and 
})ublish the returns in the presence and under the direction of 
the General Assembly; and the person having the majority of the 
whole number of votes shall be declared duly elected Governor of 
this State; but if no person shall have such majority, then from 
the two persons having the highest number of votes, who shall be 
in life, and shall not decline an election at the time appointed 
by the General Assembly to elect, the General Assembly shall im¬ 
mediately elect a Governor viva voce; and in all cases of election 
of a Governor by the General Assembly a majority of the mem* 
hers present shall be necessary to a choice. 

C. Contested elections shall be determined by both Houses of 
the General Assembly in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

7. No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor who 


COy^TJTUTIO'S OP THE ETATE OF GEOROTA 157 


sliall not have been a citizen of tlie United States fifteen years, 
and a citizen of the State six years, and who shall not have at¬ 
tained the age of thirty years. 

8. In case of the death, resignation or disability of the Gov¬ 
ernor, the President of the Senate shall exercise the Executive 
powers of the government until such disability be removed, or a 
successor is elected and qualified. And in case of the death, 
resignation or disability of the President of the Senate, the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives shall exercise the Execu¬ 
tive powers of the government until the removal of the disability, 
or the election and qualification of a Governor. 

0. The General Assembly shall have power to provide by law 
for filling unexpired terms by special elections. 

10. The Governor shall, before he enters on the duties of his 
office, take the following oath or affirmation: “ I do solemnly 
swear (or affirm, as the case may be), that I will faithfully ex¬ 
ecute the office of Governor of the State of Georgia, and will, to 
the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Consti¬ 
tution thereof, and the Constitution of the United States of 
America.” 

11. The Governor shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army 
and navy of this State, and of the militia thereof. 

12. He shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons, to 
commute penalties, remove disabilities imposed by law, and to 
remit any part of a sentence for offences against the State, after 
conviction, except in cases of treason and impeachment, subject 
to such regulations as may be provided by law relative to the 
manner of applying for pardons. Upon conviction for treason 
he may suspend the execution of the sentence and report the case 
to the General Assembly at the next meeting thereof, when the 
General Assembly shall either pardon, commute the sentence, di¬ 
rect its execution or grant a further reprieve. He shall, at each 
session of the General Assembly, communicate to that body each 
case of reprieve, pardon or commutation granted, stating the 
name of the convict, the offence for which he was convicted, the 
sentence and its date, the date of the reprieve, pardon or commu¬ 
tation, and the reasons for granting the same. He shall take 
care that the laws are faithfully executed, and shall be a con¬ 
servator of the peace throughout the State. 

13. He shall issue writs of election to fill all vacancies that 
may happen in the Senate or House of Representatives, and shall 



158 


THE CiriL aOVERXMEXT OF GEORGIA 


give the General Assembly, from time to time, information of the 
state of the Commonwealth, and recommend to their considera¬ 
tion such measures as he may deem necessary or expedient. He 
shall have power to convoke the General Assembly on extraor¬ 
dinary occasions, but no law shall be enacted at call sessions of 
the General Assembly except such as shall relate to the object 
stated in his proclamation convening them. 

14. When any office shall become vacant, by death, resignation 
or otherwise, the Governor shall have power to fill such vacancy, 
unless otherwise provided by law; and persons so appointed shall 
continue in office until a successor is commissioned, agreeably to 
the mode pointed out in the Constitution, or by law in pursuance 
thereof. 

15. A person once rejected by the Senate shall not be reap¬ 
pointed by the Governor to the same office during the same ses¬ 
sions or the recess thereafter. 

16. The Governor shall have the revision of all bills passed by 
the General Assembly, before the same shall become laws, but 
two-thirds of each House may pass a law, notwithstanding his 
dissent; and if any bill shall not be returned by the Governor 
within five days (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented 
to him, the same shall be a law, unless the General Assembly, 
by their adjournment, shall prevent its return. He may approve 
any appropriation, and disapprove any other appropriation, in 
the same bill, and the latter shall not be effectual, unless passed 
by two-thirds of each House. 

17. Every vote, resolution or order, to which the concurrence of 
both Houses may be necessary, except on a question of election or 
adjournment, shall be presented to the Governor, and before it 
shall take effect be approved by him, or being disapproved, shall 
be repassed by two-thirds of each House. 

18. He may require information, in writing, from the officers 
in the Executive Department on any subject relating to the duties 
of their respective offices. It shall be the duty of the Governor, 
quarterly, and oftener if he deems it expedient, to examine, under 
oath, the Treasurer and Comptroller-General of the State on all 
matters pertaining to their respective offices, and to inspect and 
review their books and accounts. The General Assembly shall 
have authority to jirovide by law for the suspension of either of 
said officers from the discharge of the duties of his office, and 


CONf^TITUTIOX OP THE HTATE OF OEOROIA 159 


also for tlio ajipointinpiit of a suital)le person to discharge the 
duties of the same. 

19. Ihe Governor shall have power to appoint his own Secre¬ 
taries, not exceeding two in number, and to provide such other 
clerical force as may be required in his office, but the total cost for 
Secretaries and clerical force in his office shall not exceed six 
thousand dollars per annum. 

Section II. 

1. The Secretary of State, Comptroller-General and Treasurer 
shall be elected by the persons qualified to vote for members of 
the General Assembly, at the same time and in the same manner 
as the Governor. The provision of the Constitution as to the 
transmission of the returns of election, counting the votes, de¬ 
claring the result, deciding when there is no election, and when 
there is a contested election, applicable to the election of Gov¬ 
ernor, shall apply to the election of Secretary of State, Comp¬ 
troller-General and Treasurer; they shall be commissioned by 
the Governor and hold their office for the same time as the Gov¬ 
ernor. 

2. The salary of the Treasurer shall not exceed two thousand 
dollars per annum. The clerical expenses of his department 
shall not exceed sixteen hundred dollars per annum. 

3. The salary of the Secretary of State shall not exceed two 
thousand dollars per annum, and the clerical expenses of his de¬ 
partment shall not exceed one thousand dollars per annum. 

4. The salary of the Comptroller-General shall not exceed two 
thousand dollars per annum. The clerical expenses of his depart¬ 
ment, including the Insurance Department and Wild Land Clerk, 
shall not exceed four thousand dollars per annum; and without 
said clerk, it shall not exceed three thousand dollars per annum. 

5. The Treasurer shall not be allowed directly or indirectly to 
receive any fee, interest or reward from any person, bank or cor¬ 
poration for the deposit or use, in any manner, of the public 
funds; and the General Assembly shall enforce this provision by 
suitable penalties. 

0. No person shall be eligible to the office of Secretary of State, 
Comptroller-General or Treasurer, unless he shall have been a 
citizen of the United States for ten years, and shall have resided 
in this State for six years next preceding his election, and shall 



ICO 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


be twenty-five years of age when elected. All of said officers shall 
give bond and security, under regulations to be prescribed by law, 
for the faithful discharge of their duties. 

7. The Secretary of State, the Comptroller-General and the 
Treasurer shall not be allowed any fees, perquisite or compensa¬ 
tion other than their salaries, as prescribed by law, except their 
necessary expenses when absent from the seat of government on 
business for the State. 

Section III. 

1. The Great Seal of the State shall be deposited in the office 
of the Secretary of State, and shall not be affixed to any instru¬ 
ment of writing except by order of the Governor, or General As¬ 
sembly, and that now in use shall be the Great Seal of the State 
until otherwise provided by law. 


ARTICLE VI. 

JUDICIARY. 

Section I. 

1. (As amended 1906.) The judicial powers of this State shall 
be vested in a Supreme Court, a Court of Appeals, Superior 
Courts, Courts of Ordinary, Justices of the Peace, commissioned 
Notaries Public, and such other Courts, as have been or may be 
established by law. 

Section II. 

1. The Supreme Court shall consist of a Chief Justice and 
[two Associate Justices. A majority of the Court shall consti¬ 
tute a quorum. (Repealed by par. 8.)] 

2. When one or more of the Judges are disqualified from decid¬ 
ing any case, by interest or otherwise, the Governor shall desig¬ 
nate a Judge or Judges of the Superior Courts to preside in said 
case. 

3. No Judge of any Court shall preside in any case where the 
validity of any bond—Federal, State, corporation or municipal— 
is involved, who holds in his own right, or as the representative 
of others, any material interests in the class of bonds upon 
which the question to be decided arises. 

4. The Chief Justice and Associate Justices shall hold their 



COXSTITUTIOy OP TUP f^TATP OF (iEOnOJA IGl 


offices for six years, and until their successors are qualified. A 
successor to the incumbent whose term will soonest expire shall 
be elected by the General Assembly in 1880; a successor to the 
incumbent whose term of office is next in duration shall be 
elected by the General Assembly in 1882; and a successor to the 
third incumbent shall be elected by the General Assembly in 
1884; but appointments to fill vacancies shall only be for the 
unexpired term, or until such vacancies are filled by elections, 
agreeably to the mode pointed out by this Constitution. 

5. (As amended 1906.) The Supreme Court shall have no 
original jurisdiction, but shall be a court alone for the trial and 
correction of errors in law and equity from the Superior Courts 
in all civil cases, whether legal or equitable, originating therein, 
or carried thereto from the court of ordinary, and in all cases of 
conviction of a capital felony, and for the determination of ques¬ 
tions certified to it by the Court of Appeals; and shall sit at the 
seat of government, at such times in each year as are or may be 
prescribed by law, for the trial and determination of writs of 
error from said Superior Courts, and of questions certified to it 
as aforesaid. Any case carried to the Supreme Court which is 
of the class of which the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction, may 
be transferred to the Court of Appeals, under such rules as the 
Supreme Court may prescribe, until otherwise provided by law; 
and the Court of Appeals shall try the cases so transferred. 

6. Tlie Supreme Court shall dispose of every case at the first or 
second term after such writ of error is brought; and in case the 
plaintiff in error shall not be prepared at the first term to prose¬ 
cute the case—unless prevented by Providential cause—it shall 
be stricken from the docket, and the judgment below shall stand 
affirmed. 

7. In any case the Court may, in its discretion, withhold its 
judgment until the next term after the same is argued. 

8. (Amendment of 1890). The Supreme Court shall hereafter 
consist of a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. The court 
shall have power to hear and determine cases wdien sitting, 
either in a body or in two divisions of three judges each, under 
such regulations as may be prescribed by the General Asseml)ly. 
A majority of either division shall constitute a quorum for that 
division. The Chief Justice and Associale Justices shall here¬ 
after be elected by the people at the same time and in the same 
manner as the Governor and the State house otficers are elected. 


162 


THE CIVIL OOVERNMEHT OF GEORGIA 


except that the first election under this amendment shall be held 
on the third Wednesday in December, 1896, at which time one 
Associate Justice shall be elected for a full term of six years, 
to fill the vacancy occurring on January first, 1897, by the ex¬ 
piration of the term of one of the present incumbents, and three 
additional Associate Justices shall be elected for terms expiring, 
respectively, January 1st, 1899, January 1st, 1901, and January 
1st, 1903. The persons elected as additional Associate Justices 
shall, among themselves, determine by lot which of the three 
last mentioned terms each shall have, and they shall be commis¬ 
sioned accordingly. After said first election, all terms (except 
unexpired terms) shall be for six years each. In case of any 
vacancy which causes an unexpired term, the same shall be filled 
by executive appointment, and the person appointed by the 
Governor shall hold his office until the next regular election, 
and until his successor for the balance of the unexpired term 
shall have been elected and qualified. The returns of said spe-, 
cial election shall be made to the Secretary of State. 

9. (Amendment of 1906.) The Court of Appeals shall, until 
otherwise provided by law, consist of three judges, of whom two 
shall constitute a quorum. It shall sit at the seat of govern¬ 
ment and at such other places as may be prescribed by law. The 
Governor shall, immediately on the ratification of this amend¬ 
ment, call an election, to be held on Tuesday after the first Mon¬ 
day in November, 1906, at which the judges of the Court of Ap¬ 
peals shall be elected in the manner in which Justices of the 
Supreme Court are elected. The returns of said election shall 
be made to the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State 
shall canvass the returns and declare the three persons receiv¬ 
ing the greatest number of votes to be elected. The terms of 
office of the judges then elected shall begin on the first day of 
January, 1907, and shall continue respectively two, four and six 
years and until their successors are qualified. The times and 
manner of all other elections, and the mode of filling q, vacancy 
which causes an unexpired term, shall be the same as are or 
may be provided for by laws relating to the election and ap¬ 
pointment of Justices of the Supreme Court. The Court of 
Appeals shall have jurisdiction for the trial and correction of 
errors in law and equity from the superior courts in all cases 
in W'hich such jurisdiction is not conferred by this constitution 
on tlie Supreme Court, and from the city courts of Atlanta and 


COXSTITUTIOX OF THE ETATE OF GEORGIA 1G3 

Savannah, and such other like courts as have been or may be 
hereafter established in other cities, and in such other cases 
as may hereafter be prescribed by law, except that where, in a 
case pending in the Court of Appeals, a question is raised as to 
the construction of a provision of the Constitution of this State 
or of the United States, or as to the constitutionality of an Act 
of the General Assembly of this State, and a decision of the 
question is necessary to the determination of the case, the Court 
of Appeals shall so certify to the Supreme Court, and thereupon 
a transcript of the record shall be transmitted to the Supreme 
Court, which, after having afforded to the parties an oppor¬ 
tunity to be heard thereon, shall instruct the Court of Appeals 
on the question so certified, and the Court of Appeals shall be 
bound by the instruction so given. But if hy reason of an equal 
division of opinion among the Justices of the Supreme Court no 
such instruction is given, the Court of Appeals may decide the 
question. The Court of Appeals may at any time certify to the 
Supreme Court 'any other question of law concerning which it 
desires the instruction of the Supreme Court for a proper deci¬ 
sion, and thereupon the Supreme Court shall give its instruction 
on the question certified to it, which shall be binding on the 
Court of Appeals in such case. The manner of certifying ques¬ 
tions to the Supreme Court by the Court of Appeals, and the 
subsequent proceedings in regard to the same in the Supreme 
Court, shall be as the Supreme Court shall by its rules pre¬ 
scribe, until otherwise provided by law. No afiirmance of the 
judgment of the court below, in cases pending in the Court of 
Appeals, shall result from delay in disposing of questions certi¬ 
fied by the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. All writs 
of error in the Court of Appeals when received by its clerk dur¬ 
ing a term of court and before the docket of the term is by order 
of the court closed, shall be entered thereon, and when received 
at any other time shall be entered on the docket of the next 
term, and they shall stand for hearing at the term for which 
they are so entered, under such rules as the court may pre¬ 
scribe, until otherwise provided by law. The Court of Appeals 
shall appoint a clerk and a sheriff of the court. The reporter 
of the Supreme Court shall be the reporter of the Court of Ap¬ 
peals, until otherwise provided by law. The first term of the 
Court of Appeals shall be held on the first Monday in January, 
11)07. The laws relating to the Supreme Court, as to qualifica- 
n—G a. 


164 


THE CIVIL GOVERyMEyT OF GEORGIA 


tions and salaries of the judo’es, tlie designation of other judges 
to preside when members of the court are disqualified, the powers, 
duties, salaries, fees and terms of officers, the mode of carrying 
cases to the court, the powers, practice, procedure, times of 
sitting and costs of the court, the publication of reports of cases 
decided therein, and in all other respects, except as otherwise 
provided by this Constitution, and until otherwise provided by 
law, shall apply to the Court of Appeals, so far as they can be 
made to apply. The decisions of the Supreme Court shall bind 
the Court of Appeals as precedents. 

Section ITT. 

1. There shall be a judge of the Superior Court for each Ju¬ 
dicial Circuit, whose term of office shall be four years, and until 
his successor is qualified. He may act in other circuits when 
authorized by law. (Amendment of 1906.) The Legislature 
shall have authority to add one or more additional judges of the 
Superior Court for any Judicial Circuit of this State, and shall 
have authority to regulate the manner in which the judges of 
such circuits shall dispose of the business thereof, and shall fix 
the time at which the term or terms of office of such additional 
judge or judges shall begin, and the manner of his appointment 
or election, and shall have authority from time to time to add 
to the number of such judges in any judicial circuit, or to reduce 
the number of judges in any Judicial Circuit; provided, that at 
all times there shall be at least one judge in every Judicial Cir¬ 
cuit of this State. 

2. (Amendment of 1898.) The successors to the present and 
subsequent incumbents shall be elected by the electors, entitled 
to vote for members of the General Assembly of the whole State, 
at the general election held for such members, next preceding 
the expiration of their respective terms; provided that the suc¬ 
cessors for all incumbents whose terms expire on or before the 
first day of January, 1899, shall be elected by the General As¬ 
sembly at its session for 1898, for the full term of four years. 

3. (Amendment of 1898.) The terms of the judges to be 
elected under the Constitution (except to fill vacancies) shall 
begin on the first day of January after their election. Every 
vacancy occasioned by death or other causes shall be filled by 
appointment of the Governor until the first day of January after 
the general election held next after the expiration of thirty 


COXSTITUTIOX OF THE 8TATE OF OEORGIA 105 


days from the time such vacancy occurs, at which election a 
successor for the unexpired term shall be elected. 

Section IV. 

1. The Superior Courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction in 
cases of divorce; in criminal cases where the offender is sub¬ 
jected to loss of life, or conflnement in the penitentiary; in cases 
respecting titles to land, and equity cases. 

2. The General Assembly may confer upon the Courts of com¬ 
mon law all the powers heretofore exercised by Courts of Equity 
in this State. 

3. Said Courts shall have jurisdiction in all civil cases, except 
as hereinafter provided. 

4. They shall have appellate jurisdiction in all such cases as 
may be provided by law^ 

5. They shall have power to correct errors in inferior judica¬ 
tories by writ of certiorari, which shall only issue on the sanc¬ 
tion of the Judge; and said Courts and the Judges thereof shall 
have power to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, scire facias, 
and all other writs that may be necessary for carrying their pow¬ 
ers fully into effect, and shall have such other powers as are or 
may be conferred on them by law. 

6. The General Assembly may provide for an appeal from one 
jury, in the Superior and City Courts to another, and the said 
Court may grant new trials on legal grounds. 

7. The Court shall render judgment without the verdict of a 
jury in all civil cases founded on unconditional contracts in writ¬ 
ing, where an issuable defence is not filed under oath or affirma¬ 
tion. 

8. The Superior Courts shall sit in each county not less than 
twice in each year, at such times as have been or may be ap¬ 
pointed by law. 

9. The General Assembly may provide by law for the appoint¬ 
ment of some proper person to preside in cases where the presid¬ 
ing Judge is, from any cause, disqualified. 

Section V. 

1. In any county within which there is, or hereafter may be, a 
City Cburt, the Judge of said Court, and of the Superior Court, 
may preside in the Courts of each otlier in cases where the Judge 
of either Court is disqualified to preside. 


1G6 


THE CIVIL COVEltyME'ST OF GEORGIA 


Section VI. 

1. The powers of a Court of Ordinary, and of Probate, shall be 
vested in an Ordinary for each county, from whose decision there 
may be an appeal (or, by consent of parties, without a decision) 
to the Superior Court, under regulations prescribed by law. 

2. The Courts of Ordinary shall have such powers in relation 
to roads, bridges, ferries, public bildings, paupers, county ofticers, 
county funds, county taxes, and other county matters as may be 
conferred on them by law. 

3. The Ordinary shall hold his office for the term of four years, 
and until his successor is elected and qualified. 

Section VII. 

1. There shall be in each militia district one Justice of the 
Peace, whose ollicial term, except when elected to fill an unex¬ 
pired term, shall be four years. 

2. Justices of the peace shall have jurisdiction in all civil 
cases, arising ex contractu^ and in cases of injury or damage to 
personal property, when the principal sum does not exceed one 
hundred dollars, and shall sit monthly at fixed times and places; 
but in all cases there may be an appeal to a jury in said Court, 
or an appeal to the Superior Court, under such regulations as 
may be prescribed by law. 

3. Justices of the Peace shall be elected by the legal voters in 
their respective districts, and shall be commissioned by the Gov¬ 
ernor. They shall be removable on conviction for malpractice in 
office. 

Section VIII. 

1. Commissioned Notaries Public, not to exceed one for each 
militia district, may be appointed by the Judges of the Superior 
Courts, in their respective circuits, upon recommendation of the 
grand juries of the several counties. They shall be commissioned 
by the Governor for the term of four years, and shall be ex officio 
Justices of the Peace, and shall be removable on conviction for 
malpractice in office. 

Section IX. 

1. The jurisdiction, powers, proceedings and practice of all 
Courts or officers invested with judicial powers (except City 
Courts), -of the same grade or class, so far as regulated by law, 


COXSTITUriOX OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA l(i7 


and the force and effect of the process, judgment and decree, by 
such Courts, severally, shall be uniform. This uniformity must 
be established by the General Assembly. 

Section X. 

1. There shall be an Attorney-General of this State, who shall 
be elected by the people at the same time, for the same term and 
in the same manner as the Governor. 

2. It shall be the duty of the Attorney-General to act as the 
legal adviser of the Executive Department, to represent the 
State in the Supreme Court in all capital felonies; and in all 
civil and criminal cases in any Court when required by the 
Governor, and to perform such other services as shall be re¬ 
quired of him by law. 

Section XI. 

1. (Amendment of 1898.) There shall be a Solicitor-General 
for each Judicial Circuit, whose official term (except to fill a 
vacancy) shall be four years. The successors of present and 
subsequent incumbents shall be elected by the electors of the 
whole State, qualified to vote for members of the General As¬ 
sembly, at the general election held next preceding the expiration 
of their respective terms. Every vacancy occasioned by death, 
resignation or other cause, shall be filled by appointment of the 
Governor until the first day of January after the general elec¬ 
tion held next after the expiration of thirty days from the time 
such vacancy occurs, at which election a successor for the un¬ 
expired term shall be elected; provided, that the successors for 
all incumbents whose terms expire on or before the first day of 
January, 1899, shall be elected by the General Assembly at its 
session for 1898, for the full term of four years. 

2. It shall be the duty of the Solicitor-General to represent the 
State in all cases in the Superior Courts of his circuit, and in 
all cases taken up from his circuit to the Supreme Court, and to 
perform such other services as shall be required of him by law. 

Section XII. 

[1. The Judges of the Supreme and Superior Courts and So- 
licitors-General shall be elected by the General Assembly, in 
joint session, on such day or days as shall be fixed by joint 
resolution of both Houses. At the session of the General As- 


1G8 


TIIE CIVIL GOVERNMEVT OF GEORGIA 


bembly wliich is held next before the expiration of the terms of 
the present inciinibents, as provided in this Constitution, their 
successors shall he chosen; and the same shall apply to the elec¬ 
tion of those who shall succeed them. Vacancies occasioned by 
death, resignation or other cause shall he filled by appointment 
of the Governor, until the General Assembly shall convene, when 
an (Section shall he held to fill the unexpired portion of the va¬ 
cant terms.] 

(This section was virtually repealed by the amendments in 
Art. VI., Sect. III., par. 2; Sect. II., par. 8. 

Section XIII. 

1. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall have, out of the 
Treasury of the State, salaries not to exceed three thousand dol¬ 
lars i per annum; the Judges of the Superior Courts shall have 
salaries not to exceed two thousand dollars 2 per annum; the 
Attorney-General shall have a salary not to exceed two thousand 
dollars 3 per annum; and the Solicitors-Gcneral shall each have 
salaries not to exceed two hundred and fifty dollars per annum; 
but the Attorney-General shall not have any fee or perquisite in 
any cases arising after the adoption of this Constitution; hut 
the provisions of this section shall not affect the salaries of those 
now in office. 

2. The General Assembly may at any time, by a two-thirds 
vote of each branch, prescribe other and different salaries for 
any or all of the above officers, but no such change shall affect 
the officers then in commission. 

Section XIV. 

1. No person shall be Judge of the Supreme or Superior Courts 
or Attorney-General, unless, at the time of his election, he shall 
have attained the age of thirty years, and shall have been a citi¬ 
zen of the State three years, and have practiced law for seven 
years; and no person shall be hereafter elected Solicitor-General, 
unless, at the time of his election, he shall have attained twenty- 
five years of age, shall have been a citizen of the State for three 
years, and shall have practiced law for three years next preced¬ 
ing his election. 


1 Made $4,000 in 1904. 

2 Made $.‘1,000 in 1904. 

3 Made $3,000 in 1905. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 1G9 


Section XV. 

1. No total divorce shall be granted, except on the concurrent 
verdicts of two juries at different terms of the Court. 

2. V hen a divorce is granted, the jury rendering the final ver¬ 
dict shall determine the rights and disabilities of the parties. 

Section XVI. 

1. Divorce cases shall be brought in the county where the de¬ 
fendant resides, if a resident of this State; if the defendant be 
not a resident of this State, then in the county in which the 
plaintiff resides. 

2. Cases respecting titles to land shall be tried in the county 
where the land lies, except where a single tract is divided by a 
county line, in which case the Superior Court of either county 
shall have jurisdiction. 

3. Equity cases shall be tried in the county where a defendant 
resides against whom substantial relief is prayed. 

4. Suits against joint obligors, joint promissors, co-partners or 
joint trespassers, residing in different counties may be tried in 
either county. 

5. Suits against the maker and indorser of promissory notes, 
or drawer, acceptor and indorser of foreign or inland bills of ex¬ 
change, or like instruments, residing in different counties, shall 
be brought in the county where the maker or acceptor resides. 

6. All other civil cases shall be tried in the county where the 
defendant resides, and all criminal cases shall be tried in the 
county where the crime was committed, except cases in the Su¬ 
perior Courts where the judge is satisfied that an impartial jury 
cannot be obtained in such county. 

Section XVII. 

I. The power to change the venue in civil and criminal cases 
shall be vested in the Superior Courts, to be exercised in such 
manner as has been, or shall be, provided by law. 

Section XVIII. 

1. The right of trial by jury, except where it is otherwise pro¬ 
vided in this Constitution, shall remain inviolate, but the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly may prescribe any number, not less than five, to 
constitute a trial or traverse jury in Courts other than the Su¬ 
perior and City Courts. 


170 


THU CIVIL a0VUR\MUNT OF GEORGIA 


2. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the selection 
of the most experienced, intelligent and upright men to serve as 
grand jurors, and intelligent and upright men to serve as traverse 
jurors. Nevertheless, the grand jurors shall be competent to 
serve as traverse jurors. 

3. It shall be the duty of the General x\ssembly, by general 
laws, to prescribe tlie manner of fixing compensation of jurors in 
all counties in this State. 

Section XIX. 

1. The General Assembly shall have power to provide for the 
creation of County Commissioners in such counties as may re¬ 
quire them, and to define their duties. 

Section XX. 

1. All Courts not specially mentioned by name in the first sec¬ 
tion of this article may be abolished in any county, at the discre¬ 
tion of the General Assembly. 

’ Section XXI. 

1. The costs in the Supreme Court shall not exceed ten dollars, 
unless otherwise provided by law. Plaintiffs in error shall not 
be required to pay costs in said Court when the usual pauper 
oath is filed in the Court below. 


ARTICLE VII. 

FINANCE, TAXATION AND PUBLIC DEBT. 

Section I. 

1. The powers of taxation over the whole State shall be exer¬ 
cised by the General Assembly for the following purposes onlj’^: 

For the support of the State Government and the public insti¬ 
tutions. 

For educational purposes, in instructing children in the elemen¬ 
tary branches of an English education only. 

To pay the interest on the public debt. 

To pay the principal of the public debt. 

To suppress insurrection, to repel invasion, and defend the 
State in time of war. 



Coy^TITLTlOX OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 171 


To siij)})ly the soldiers who lost a limb, or limbs, in the mili¬ 
tary service of the Confederate States with substantial artificial 
limbs during life; and to make suitable provisions for such Con¬ 
federate soldiers as may have otherwise been disabled or per¬ 
manently injured in such service, or who by reason of age and 
poverty, or infirmity and poverty, or blindness and poverty, are 
unable to provide a living for themselves; and for the widows 
of such Confederate soldiers as may have died in the service of 
the Confederate States, or since from wounds received therein, 
or disease contracted in the service: Provided, that the Act shall 
only apply to such widows as were married at the time of such 
service and have remained unmarried since the death of such 
soldier husband. 

2. (Amendment of 1904.) The levy of taxes on property for 
any one year by the General Assembly for all purjmses, except 
to provide for repelling invasion, suppressing insurrection, or 
defending the State in time of war, shall not exceed five mills 
on each dollar of the value of the property taxable in the State. 

Section II. 

1. All taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of sub¬ 
jects, and ad valorem on all property subject to be taxed within 
the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax, and shall 
be levied and collected under general law's. The General As¬ 
sembly may, however, impose a tax upon such domestic animals 
as, from their nature and habits, are destructive of other prop¬ 
erty. 

2. The General Assembly may, by law% exempt from taxation 
all public property, places of religious worship or burial; all 
institutions of purely public charity; all buildings erected for 
and used as a college, incorporated academy, or other seminary 
of learning; the real and personal estate of any public library, 
and that of any other literary association, u§ed by or connected 
w'ith such library; all books and philosophical apparatus; and 
all paintings and statuary of any company or association, kept 
in a public hall and not held as merchandise, or for purposes of 
sale or gain: Provided, the property so exempted be not used for 
purposes of private or corporate profit or income. 

3. No poll tax shall he levied except for educational purposes, 
and such tax shall not exceed one dollar annually upon each 
poll. 


172 


THE CIVIL aOVERVME^T OF GEORGIA 


4. All laws exempting property from taxation, other than the 
property herein enumerated, siiall be void. 

5. The power to tax corporations and corporate property shall 
not be surrendereU or suspended by any contract or grant to 
which the State shall be a party. 

Section III. 

1. No debt shall be contracted by or on behalf of the State, 
except to supply casual deficiences of revenue, to repel invasion, 
suppress insurrection, and defend the State in time of war, or to 
})ay the existing public debt; but the debt created to supply de¬ 
ficiences in revenue shall not exceed, in the aggregate, two hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars. 


Section. IV. 

1. All laws authorizing the borrowing of money by or on behalf 
of the State shall specify the purposes for which the money is to 
be used, and the money so obtained shall be used for the purposes 
specified, and for no other. 


Section V. 

1. The credit of the State shall not be pledged or loaned to any 
individual, company, corporation or association, and the State 
shall not become a joint owner or stockholder in any company, 
association or corporation. 


Section VI. 

1. The General Assembly shall not authorize any county, muni¬ 
cipal corporation or political division of this State to become a 
stockholder in any company, corporation or association or to 
appropriate money for, or to loan its credit to any corporation, 
company, association, institution or individual, except for purely 
charitable purposQ^. This restriction shall not operate to pre¬ 
vent the support of schools by municipal corporations within 
their respective limits: Provided, that if any municipal corpo¬ 
ration shall offer to the State any property for locating or build¬ 
ing a Capitol, and the State accepts such offer, the corporation 
may comply with such offer. 

2. The General Assembly shall not have power to delegate to 
any county the right to levy a tax for any purpose, except for 
educational purposes in instructing children in the elementary 


COy^TITUTIOy of the etate of OEOEGTA 173 


branches of an English education only; to build and repair the 
public buildings and bridges; to maintain and support prisoners; 
to pay jurors and coroners, and for litigation, quarantine, roads 
and expenses of courts; to support paupers and pay debts here¬ 
tofore existing. 

Section VII. 

1. The debt hereafter incurred by any county, municipal corpo¬ 
ration or political division of this State, except as in this Consti¬ 
tution provided for, shall never exceed seven per centum of the 
assessed value of all the taxable property therein; and no such 
county, municipality or division shall incur any new debt, except 
for a temporary loan or loans to supply casual deficiencies of 
revenue, not to exceed one-fifth of one per centum of the assessed 
value of taxable property therein, without the assent of two- 
thirds of the qualified voters thereof, at an election for that 
purpose, to be held as may be prescribed by law; but any city, 
the debt of which does not exceed seven per centum of the as¬ 
sessed value of the taxable property at the time of the adoption 
of this Constitution, may be authorized by law to increase, at 
any time, tbe amount of said debt, three per centum upon such 
assessed valuation. 

2. Any county, municipal corporation or political division of 
this State, which shall incur any bonded indebtedness under the 
provisions of this Constitution, shall, at or before the time for so 
doing, provide for the assessment and collection of an annual tax 
sufficient in amount to pay the principal and interest of said 
debt within thirty yeais from the date of the incurring of said 
indebtedness. 

Section VIII. 

I. The State shall not assume the debt, nor any part thereof, of 
any county, municipal corporation, or political division of the 
State, unless such debt shall be contracted to enable the State to 
repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend itself in time of 
war. 

Section IX. 

1. The receiving, directly or indirectly, by any officer of the 
State or county, or member or officer of the General Assembly, of 
any interests, profits or perquisites arising from the use or loan 
of public funds in his hands, or moneys to be raised through his 
agency for State or county purposes, shall be deemed a felony, 


174 


THE ClYIL aOVEHyMEyT OF GEOROTA 


and punishable as may be prescribed by law, a part of which 
punishment shall be a disqualification from holding ofhce. 

Section X. 

1. Municipal corporations shall not incur any debt until pro¬ 
vision therefor shall have been made by the municipal govern¬ 
ment. 

Section XI. 

1. The General Assembly shall have no authority to appro¬ 
priate money, either directly or indirectly, to pay the whole or 
any part of the principal or interest of the bonds, or other ob¬ 
ligations, which have been pronounced illegal, null and void by 
the General Assembly, and the constitutional amendments rati¬ 
fied by a vote of the people on the first day of May, 1877; nor 
shall the General Assembly have authority to pay any of the 
obligations created by the State under laws passed during tlie 
late war between the States, nor any of the bonds, notes or obli¬ 
gations made and entered into during the existence of said w\ar, 
the time for the payment of which was fixed after the ratifica¬ 
tion of a treaty of i)eace between the United States and the Con¬ 
federate States; nor shall the General Assembly pass any law, 
or the Governor, or other State official enter into any contract 
or agreement, whereby the State shall be made a party to any 
suit in any Court of this State, or of the United States, insti¬ 
tuted to test the validity of any such bonds or obligations. 

Section XII. 

1. The bonded debt of the State shall never be increased, except 
to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in 
time of war. 

Section XIII. 

1. The proceeds of the sale of the Western and Atlantic, Macon 
and Brunswick, or other railroads, held by the State, and any 
other property owned by the State, whenever the General As¬ 
sembly may authorize the sale of the wdiole, or any part thereof, 
shall be applied to the payment of the bonded debt of the State, 
and shall not be used for any other purpose wdiatever, so long as 
the State has any existing bonded debt; Provided, that the pro¬ 
ceeds of the sale of the Western and Atlantic Bailroad shall be 


CONSTITUTIOX OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 175 


applied to the payment of the bonds for which said railroad has 
been mortgaged, in preference to all other bonds. 


Section XIV. 

1. The General Assembly shall raise, by taxation, each year, in 
addition to the sun required to pay the public expenses and in^r- 
est on the public debt, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, 
which shall be held as a sinking fund, to pay off and retire the 
bonds of the State which have not yet matured, and shall be ap¬ 
plied to no other purpose whatever. If the bonds cannot at any 
time be purchased at or below par, then the sinking fund, herein 
provided for, may be loaned by the Governor and Treasurer of the 
State: Provided, the security which shall be demanded for said 
loan shall consist only of the valid bonds of the State; but this 
section shall not take effect until the eight per cent, currency 
l)onds, issued under the Act of February the 19th, 1873, shall 
have been paid. 

Section XV. 

1. The Comptroller-General and Treasurer shall each make to 
the Governor a quarterly report of the financial condition of the 
State, which report shall include a statement of the assets, lia¬ 
bilities and income of the State, and expenditures therefor, for 
three months preceding; and it shall be the duty of the Governor 
to carefully examine the same by himself, or through competent 
persons connected with his department, and cause an abstract 
thereof to be published for the information of the people, which 
abstract shall be indorsed by him as having been examined. 

Section XVI. 

1. The General Assembly shall not, by vote, resolution or order, 
grant any donation, or gratuity, in favor of any person, cor¬ 
poration or association. 

2. The General Assembly shall not grant or authorize extra 
compensation to any public officer, agent or contractor, after the 
service has been rendered, or the contract entered into. 

Section XVII. 

1. The office of the State Printer shall cease with the expira¬ 
tion of the term of the present incumbent, and the General As¬ 
sembly shall provide, by law, for letting the public printing to 


176 


THE CIVIL aOVERy'ME'ST OF CEOIiGlA 


the lowest responsible bidder, or bidders, wlio shall give ade¬ 
quate and satisfactory security for the faithful performance 
thereof. No member of the General Assembly, or other public 
officer, shall be interested either directly or indirectly in any such 
contract. 


ARTICLE VIII. 

EDUCATION. 

Section I. 

1. There shall be a thorough system of common schools for the 
education of children in the elementary branches of an English 
education only, as nearly uniform as practicable, the expenses of 
which shall be provided for by taxation, or otherwise. The 
schools shall be free to all children of the State, but separate 
schools shall be provided for the white and colored races. 

Section II. 

1. (As amended 189G.) There shall be a State School Com¬ 
missioner elected bj’^ the people at the same time and manner as 
the Governor and State house officers are elected, whose term of 
office shall be two years and until his successor is elected and 
qualified. His office shall be at the seat of the government, and 
he shall be paid a salary not to exceed two thousand dollars per 
annum. The General Assembly may substitute for the State 
School Commissioner such officer or officers as may be deemed 
necessary to perfect the system of public education. 

Section III. 

1. The poll tax, any educational fund now belong to the State 
(except the endowment of, and debt due to, the University of 
Georgia), a special tax on shows and exhibitions, and of the sale 
of spirituous and malt liquors, which the General Assembly is 
hereby authorized to assess, and the proceeds of any commutation 
tax for military service, and all taxes that may be assessed on 
such domestic animals as, from their nature and habits, are de¬ 
structive to other property, are hereby set apart and devoted 
for the support of common schools. 



CON.^TITUTIOy OF THE STATE OF GEOROIA 177 


Sectiox IV. 

1. (As amended 1004.) Authority may be granted to counties, 
militia districts, school districts, and to municipal corporations 
upon the recommendation of the corporate autliority, to estab¬ 
lish and maintain public schools in their respective limits, by 
local taxation; but no such local laws shall take effect until tlie 
same shall have been submitted to a vote of the qualified voters 
in each county, militia district, school district, or municipal 
corporation, and approved by a two-thirds majority of persons 
voting at such election; and the General Assembly may prescribe 
who shall vote on such questions. 

Section V. 

1. Existing local school systems shall not be affected by this 
Constitution. Nothing contained in section first of this article 
shall be construed to deprive schools in this State, not common 
schools, from participation in the educational fund of the State, 
as to all pupils therein taught in the elementary branches of 
an English education. 

Section VI. 

1. The Trustees of the University of Georgia may accept be¬ 
quests, donations and grants of land, or other property, for the 
use of said University. In addition to the payment of the annual 
interest on the debt due by the State to the University, the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly may, from time to time, make such donations 
thereto as the condition of the treasury will authorize. And the 
General Assembly may also, from time to time, make such ap¬ 
propriations of money as the condition of the treasury will au¬ 
thorize to any college or university (not exceeding one in num¬ 
ber) now established or hereafter to be established, in this State 
for the education of persons of color. 


ARTICLE IX. 

HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTIONS. 

Section I. 

1. There shall be exempt from levy and sale, by virtue of any 
process w'hatever under the laws of this State, except as herein¬ 
after excepted, of the property of every head of a family, or 



178 


THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 


guardian, or trustee of a family of minor children, or every aged 
or infirm person, or persons having the care and support of de¬ 
pendent females of any age, who is not the head of a family, 
realty or personality, or both, to the value in the aggregate of 
sixteen hundred dollars.i 

Section II. 

1. No Court or ministerial officer in this State shall ever have 
jurisdiction or authority to enforce any judgment, efxecution or 
decree against the property set apart for such purpose, including 
such improvements as may be made thereon from time to time, 
except for taxes, for the purchase money of the same, for labor 
done thereon, for material furnished therefor, or for the removal 
of incumbrances thereon. 


Section III. 

1. The debtor shall have power to waive or renounce in w^riting 
his right to the benefit of the exemption provided for in this 
article, except as to wearing apparel, and not exceeding three 
hundred dollars’ worth of household and kitchen furniture, and 
provisions, to be selected by himself and his wife, if any, and he 
shall not, after it is set apart, alienate or encumber the property 
so exempted, but it may be sold by the debtor and his wife, if 
any, jointly, with the sanction of the Judge of the Superior Court 
of the county where the debtor resides or the land is situated, the 
proceeds to be reinvested upon the same uses. 

Section IV. 

1. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, as early as 
practicable, for the setting apart and valuation of said property. 
But nothing in this article shall be construed to affect or repeal 
the existing laws for exception of property from sale contained 
in the present Code of this State, in paragraphs 2040 to 2049 
inclusive, and the Act amendatory thereto. It may be optional 
with the applicant to take either, but not both, of such exemp¬ 
tions. 


^ The above provision of the Constitution was specially submitted to the 
people and ratified, as a part thereof, by them, on December 5th, 1887. 



COXSTITUTIOX OF THE ^TATE OF GEORGIA 179 


Section V. 

1. The debtor shall have authority to waive or renounce in 
writing his right to the benefit of the exemption provided for in’ 
section four, as is excepted in section three of this article. 

Section VI. 

1. The applicant shall, at any time, have the right to supple¬ 
ment his exemption by adding to an amount already set apart, 
which is less than the whole amount of exemption herein allowed, 
a sufficiency to make his exemption equal to the whole amount. 

Section VIT. 

1 . Homestead and exemptions of personal property which have 
been heretofore set apart by virtue of the provisions of the exist¬ 
ing Constitution of this State, and in accordance with the laws 
for the' enforcement thereof, or which may be hereafter so set 
apart, at any time, shall be and remain valid as against all debts 
and liabilities existing at the time of the adoption of this Con¬ 
stitution, to the same extent that they would have been had said 
existing Constitution not been revised. 

Section VTII. 

1. Rights which have become vested under previously existing 
laws shall not be affected by anything herein contained. In all 
cases in which homesteads have been set apart under the Consti¬ 
tution of 18C8, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, and a 
hona fide sale of such property has been subsequently made, and 
the full purchase price thereof paid, all right of exemption in 
such property by reason of its having been so set apart, shall cease 
in so far as it affects the right of the purchaser. In all such 
cases, where a part only of the purchase price has been paid, 
such transactions shall be governed by the laws now of force 
in this State, in so far as they affect the rights of the purchaser, 
as though said property had not been set apart. 

Section IX. 

1. Parties who have taken a homestead of realty under the 
Constitution of eighteen hundred and sixty-eight shall have the 
right to sell said homestead and reinvest the same by order of 
the Judge of the Superior Courts of this State. 

12—Ga. 


180 


TUE CIVIL COVERSMEyT OF GEORGIA 


ARTICLE X. 

MILITIA. 

Section I. 

1. A well-regulated militia being essential to the peace and se¬ 
curity of the State, the General Assembly shall have authority to 
provide by law how the militia of this State shall be organized, 
officered, trained, armed and equipped, and of whom it shall con¬ 
sist. 

2. The General Assembly shall have power to authorize the 
formation of volunteer companies, and to provide for their organ¬ 
ization into battalions, regiments, brigades, divisions and corps 
with such restrictions as may be prescribed by law, and shall 
have authority to arm and equip the same. 

3. The officers and men of the militia and volunteer forces 
shall not be entitled to receive any pa}^ rations or emoluments, 
when not in active service by authority of the State. 


ARTICLE XI. 

counties and county officers. 

Section 1. 

L Each county shall be a body corporate, with such powers 
and limitations as may be prescribed by law. All suits by or 
against a county shall be in the name thereof; and the metes 
and bounds of the several counties shall remain as now pre¬ 
scribed by law, unless changed as hereinafter provided. 

2. (Amendment of 1904.) There shall not be more than one 
hundred and forty-five counties in this State.i ' 

3. County lines shall not be changed, unless under the opera¬ 
tion of a general law for that purpose. 

4. No county site shall be changed or removed, except by a 
two-thirds vote of the qualified voters of the county, voting at 
an election held for that purpose, and a two-thirds vote of the 
General Assembly. 

5. Any county may be dissolved and merged with contiguous 
counties by a two-thirds vote of the qualified electors of such 
county voting at an election held for that purpose. 


^ A later Amendment in 1906 created. Ben Hill County; making the 
number of counties 146. 




COXSTITUTIOX OF THE ETATE OF GEORGIA 181 


Section II. 

1. The county officers shall be elected by the qualified voters of 
their respective counties or districts, and shall hold their offices 
for two years. They shall be removed on conviction for mal¬ 
practice in office, and no person shall be eligible to any of the 
offices referred to in this paragraph unless he shall have been a 
resident of the county for two years and is a qualified voter. 

Section III. 

1. Whatever tribunal, or officers, may hereafter be created by 
the General Assembly for the transaction of county matters, shall 
be uniform throughout the State, and of the same name, jurisdic¬ 
tion and remedies, except that the General Assembly may provide 
for the appointment of commissioners of roads and revenues in 
any county. 


ARTICLE XII. 

THE LAWS OF GENERAL OPERATION IN FORCE IN THIS STATE. 

Section I. 

1. The laws of general operation in this State are, first, as the 
supreme law: The Constitution of the United States, the laws of 
the CTnited States in pursuance thereof, and aii treaties made un¬ 
der the authority of the United States. 

2. Second. As next in authority thereto: This Constitution. 

3. Third. In subordination to the foregoing: All laws now of 
force in this State, not inconsistent with this Constitution, and 
the ordinances of this Convention, shall remain of force until the 
same are modified or repealed by the General Assembly. The tax 
acts and appropriation acts passed by the General Assembly of 
1877, and approved by the Governor of the State, and not in¬ 
consistent with the Constitution, are hereby continued in force 
until altered by law. 

4. Local and private acts passed for the benefit of counties, 
cities, towns, corporations and private persons, not inconsistent 
with the supreme law, nor with this Constitution, and which 
have not expired nor been repealed, shall have the force of 
statute law, subject to judicial decision as to their validity when 
passed, and to any limitations imposed by their own terms. 

5. All rights, privileges, and immunities which may have 



182 


THE CIVIL COVER^ME'ST OF GEORGIA 


vested in, or accrued to, any person or persons, or corporations, 
in his, her or their own right, or in any fiduciary capacity, under 
and in virtue of any act of the General Assembly, or any judg¬ 
ment, decree or order, or other proceeding of any court of com¬ 
petent jurisdiction in this State heretofore rendered, shall be 
lield inviolate by all courts before which they may be brought in 
question, unless attacked for fraud. 

6. All judgments, decrees, orders and other proceedings of the 
several courts of this State, heretofore made, within the limits 
of their several jurisdictions, are herel)y ratified and affirmed, 
subject only to reversion by motion for a new trial, appeal, bill 
of review, or other proceeding, in conformity with the law of 
force when they were made. 

7. The officers of the government now existing shall continue in 
the exercise of their several functions until their successors are 
duly elected or appointed and qualified, but nothing herein is to 
apply to any officer whose office may be abolished by this Con¬ 
stitution. 

8. The ordinances of this Convention shall have the force of 
laws until otherwise provided by the General Assembly, except 
the ordinances in reference to submitting the homestead and 
capital questions to a vote of the people, which ordinances, after 
being voted on, shall have the effect of constitutional provisions.! 


ARTICLE XIII. 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

Section I. 

1. Any amendment, or amendments, to this Constitution may 
be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives, and if the 
same shall be agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected to 
each of the two Houses, such proposed amendment, or amend¬ 
ments, shall be entered on their journals, with the yeas and nays 
taken thereon. And the General Assembly shall cause such 
amendment, or amendments, to be published in one or more news¬ 
papers in each Congressional district for two months previous 
to the time of holding the next general election, and shall also 


^ Under the ordinance of the Convention submitting the question of the 
location of the capital to the people, the city of Atlanta was chosen, 
December 5th, 1877. 




COySTITUTlOX OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 183 


provide for a submission of such proposed amendment, or amend¬ 
ments, to the people at said next general election, and if the 
people shall ratify such amendment, or amendments, hy a ma¬ 
jority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly, voting thereon, such amendment, or amendments, 
shall become a part of this Constitution. When more than one 
amendment is submitted at the same time, they shall be so 
submitted as to enable the electors to vote on each amendment 
separately. 

2. No convention of the people shall be called by the General 
Assembly to revise, amend or change this Constitution, unless by 
the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of each House 
of the General Assembly. The representation in said convention 
shall be based on population as near as practicable. 

Section II. 

1. The Constitution shall be submitted for ratification or re¬ 
jection to the voters of the State, at an election to be held on the 
first Wednesday in December, one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-seven, in the several election districts of this State, at 
which election every person shall be entitled to vote who is enti¬ 
tled to vote for the members of the General Assembly under the 
constitution and laws of force at tbe date of such election; said 
election to be held and conducted as is now provided by law for 
holding elections for members of the General Assembly. All 
persons voting at said election in favor of adopting the Consti¬ 
tution shall write or have printed on their ballots the words 
“ For Ratification^ and all persons opposed to the adoption of 
this Constitution shall write or have printed on their ballots the 
words “ Against Ratification’* 

2. The votes cast at said election shall be consolidated in each 
of the counties of the State as is now required by law in elections 
for members of the General Assembly, and returns thereof made 
to the Governor; and should a majority of all the votes cast at 
said election be in favor of ratification, he shall declare the said 
Constitution adopted, and make proclamation of the result of 
said election by publication in one or more newspapers in each 
Congressional district of the State; but should a majority of the 
votes cast be against ratification, he shall in the same manner 
proclaim the said Constitution rejected. 


APPENDIX. 


THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF GEORGIA SINCE 

1732. 

Under the Trustees. 

James Edward Oglethorpe, governor from July 15, 1732, to June 
23, 1752, when the charter was surrendered to the Crown. 
William Stephens, president of Council and acting governor in 
the absence of Oglethorpe, July 11, 1743, to April 8, 1751. 
Henry Parker, president of Council and acting governor, April 
8, 1751, to October 1, 1754. 

Royal Governors. 

John Reynolds, October 1, 1754, to Feb. 15, 1757. 

Henry Ellis, Feb. 16, 1757, to Oct. 31, 1760. 

James Wright, Oct. 31, 1760, to July 11, 1782. 

James Habersham, president of Council and acting governor in 
the absence of Wright, July 2, 1771, to Feb. 11, 1773. 

The Revolution. 

William Ewen, president of the Council of Safety, June 22, 1775, 
to Jan. 20, 1776. 

Archibald Bulloch, president of the Provincial Council, Jan. 20, 

1776, to Feb. 22, 1777. 

Button Gwinnett, president of Council, Feb. 22, 1777, to May 8, 

1777. 

Governors of the State of Georgia. 

John Adam Treutlen, May 8, 1777, to Jan. 8, 1778. 

John Houston, Jan. 8, 1778, to Dec. 29, 1778. 

John Wereat, president of Executive Council, Dec. 29, 1778, to 
Nov. 4, 1779. 

George Walton, governor, Nov., 1799, to Jan. 1, 1780. 

Richard Hawley, governor, Jan. 7, 1780, to Jan. 7, 1781. 

Stephen Heard, president of Executive Council, Jan. 7, 1781, to 
Aug. 15, 1781. 

Nathan Brawnson, governor, Aug. 16, 1781, to Jan. 8, 1782. 

184 


APPEHs'DlX 


l85 


John Martin, governor, Jan. 8, 1782, to Jan. 9, 1783. 

Lyman Hall, governor, Jan. 9, 1783, to Jan. 9, 1784. 

John Houston, governor, Jan. 9, 1784, to Jan. 14, 1785. 

Samuel Elbert, governor, Jan. 14, 1785, to Jan. 9, 178(1. 

Edward Telfair, governor, Jan. 9, 1786, to Jan. 9, 1787. 

George Matthews, governor, Jan. 9, 1787, to Jan. 25, 1788. 

George Handley, governor, Jan. 25, 1788, to Jan. 9, 1789. 

George Walton, governor, Jan. 9, 1789, to Nov. 9, 1790. 

Edward Telfair, governor, Nov. 9, 1790, to Nov. 7, 1793. 

George Matthews, governor, Nov. 7, 1793, to Jan. 15, 1796. 
Jared Irwin, governor, Jan. 17, 1796, to Jan. 11, 1798. 

James Jackson, governor, Jan. 12, 1798, to Mar. 3, 1801. 

David Emanuel, acting governor. Mar. 3, 1801, to Nov. 7, 1801. 
Josiah Tatnall, governor, Nov. 7, 1801, to Ndv. 4, 1802. 

John Milledge, governor, Nov. 4, 1802, to Sept. 23, 1806. 

Jared Irwin, governor. Sept. 23, 1806, to Nov. 9, 1809. 

David B. Mitchell, governor, Nov. 9, 1809, to Nov. 1, 1813. 

Peter Early, governor, Nov. 1, 1813, to Nov. 1, 1815. 

David B. Mitchell, governor, Nov. 1, 1815, to Mar. 4, 1817. (De¬ 
signed. ) 

William Rabun, governor. Mar. 4, 1817, to Oct. 25, 1819. (Died.) 
Matthew Talbot, acting governor, Oct. 25, 1819, to Nov. 13, 1819. 
John Clark, governor, Nov., 1819, to Nov., 1823. 

George IM. Troup, governor, Nov., 1823, to Nov., 1827. 

John Forsyth, governor, Nov. 1827, to Nov., 1829. 

George R. Gilmer, governor, Nov., 1829, to Nov., 1831. 

Wilson Lumpkin, governor, Nov., 1831, to Nov., 1835. 

William Schley, governor, Nov., 1835, to Nov., 1837. 

George R. Gilmer, governor, Nov., 1837, to Nov., 1839. 

Charles J. McDonald, governor, Nov., 1839, to Nov., 1843. 
George W. Crawford, governor, Nov., 1843, to Nov., 1847. 

George W. Towns, governor, Nov., 1847, to Nov., 1851. 

Howell Cobb, governor, Nov., 1851, to Nov., 1853. 

Herschell V. Johnson, Nov., 1853, to Nov., 1857. 

Joseph E. Brown, governor, Nov., 1857, to May, 1865. 

James E. Johnson, appointed provisional governor by the Presi¬ 
dent, May, 1865, to Dec. 14, 1865. 

Charles J. Jenkins, Dec. 14, 1865, to March, 1868. (Removed by 
military authority.) 

Rufus B. Bullock, elected under the Constitution of 1868, July 4, 
1868, to Oct. 30, 1871. 


18 G 


THE CIVIL COVERS MEM' OF CEORCIA 


Benjamin Conley, acting governor, Oct, 30, 1871, to Jan. 12, 1872. 
James M. Smith, governor, Jan, 12, 1872, to Jan. 12, 1877. 

Alfred H. Colquitt, governor, Jan. 12, 1877, to Nov. 4, 1882. 
Alexander H. Stephens, governor, Nov. 4, 1882, to Mar. 4, 1883. 
(Died.) 

James S. Boynton, acting governor. Mar. 5, 1883, to May 10, 
1883. 

Henry D. McDaniel, governor. May 10, 1883, to Oct. 30, 1886. 
John B. Gordon, governor, Oct. 30, 1886, to Nov. 10, 1890. 
William J. Northen, governor, Nov. 10, 1890, to Oct. 27, 1894. 

. W. Y. Atkinson, governor, Oct. 27, 1894, to Oct. 27, 1898. 

Allen D. Candler, governor, Oct. 27, 1898, to Oct. 25, 1902. 

Joseph M. Terrell, governor, Oct. 25, 1902, to June 29, 1907. 
Hoke Smith, governor, June 29, 1907, to —. 


CITIES HAVING A POPULATION OF 1500 OR OVER, 
CENSUS OF 1900. 


City 
Albany, 
Americus, 
Athens, 
Atlanta, 
Augusta, 
Bainbridge, 
Barnesville, 
Brunswick, 
Carrollton, 
Cartersville, 
Cedartown, 
Cochran, 
Columbus, 
Conyers, 
Cordele, 
Covington, 
Cuthbert, 
Dalton, 
Darien, 
Dawson, 
Dublin, 
Eatonton, 
Elberton, 
Fitzgerald, 
Fort Valley, 
Gainesville, 
Greensboro’, 


County. Pop. 
Dougherty 4,606 
Sumter .. 7,674 
Clarke ...10,245 
Fulton ...89,872 
Richmond 39,441 
Decatur .. 2,641 

Pike . 3,036 

Glynn .... 9,081 
Carroll .. 1,998 
Barton ... 3,135 

Polk . 2,823 

Pulaski . . 1,531 
Muscogee .17,614 
Rockdale . 1,605 
Dooly .... 3,473 
Newton . . 2,062 
Randolph . 2,641 
Whitfield . 4,315 
McIntosh . 1,739 
Terrell ... 2,926 
Laurens .. 2,987 
Putnam .. 1,823 
Elbert ... 3,834 
Irwin .... 1,817 
Houston .. 2,022 

Hall . 3,202 

Greene ... 1,511 


City 

Griffin, 

Hartwell, 

Hawkinsville 

Lagrange, 

INIacon, 

Madison, 

Marietta, 

Mi Hedge ville, 

Monroe, 

Moultrie, 

Newnam, 

Quitman, 

Rome. 

Sandersville, 

Savannah, 

Summerville, 

Tallapoosa, 

Thomaston, 

Thomasville, 

Toccoa, 

Trion, 
Valdosta, 
Washington, 
Way cross, 
Waynesboro’, 
West Point, 


County. 

Pop. 

Spalding . 

6,857 

Hart . 

1,672 

Pulaski . . 

2,103 

Troup . . . . 

4,274 

Bibb . 

23,272 

IMorgan . . 

1,992 

Cobb . 

4,446 

Baldwin .. 

4,219 

Walton .. 

1,846 

Colquitt .. 

2,221 

Com eta . . . 

3,654 

Brooks . . . 

2,281 

Floyd . .. . 

7,291 

Washington 2,023 

Chatham . 

54,244 

Chattooga 

. 3,245 

Haralson . 

2,128 

Upson . . . . 

1,714 

Thomas .. 

5,322 

Habersham 

2,176 

Chattooga 

. 1,926 

Lowndes 

. 5,613 

Wilkes ... 

, 3,300 

Ware .... 

. 5,919 

Burke ... 

. 2,030 

Troup .... 

. 1,797 











APPENDIX 


187 


POPULATION OF THE COUNTIES IN GEORGIA. 


Names. 

Laid 

OUT. 

Population. 

1900. 

1890. 

Gain 
per ct. 

Appling. 

Baker. 

1818 

1825 

12,336 

6,704 

8,676 

6,144 

42.1 

9.1 

Baldwin. 

1803 

17,768 

14,608 

21.6 

Banks. 

1858 

10,545 

8,562 

23.1 

Bartow. 

1861 

20,823 

20,616 

1.0 

Ben Hill. 

1906 



Berrien. 

1856 

19,440 

10,694 

81.7 

Bibb . 

1822 

50,473 

42,370 

19.1 

Brooks. 

1858 

18,606 

13,979 

.33.0 

Bryan. 

1793 

6,122 

5,520 

10.9 

Bulloch. 

1796 

21,377 

13,712 

55-8 

Burke. 

1777 

30,165 

28,501 

5.8 

Butts. 

1825 

12,805 

10,565 

21.2 

Calhoun.. 

1854 

9,274 

8,438 

9.9 

Camden. 

1777 

7,669 

6,178 

24.1 

Campbell.. 

1828 

9,518 

9,115 

4.4 

Carroll. 

1826 

26,576 

22,301 

19.1 

Catoosa. 

1853 

5,823 

5,431 

7.2 

Charlton. 

1854 

3,592 

3,335 

7.7 

Chatham. 

1777 

71,239 

57,740 

23.3 

Chattahoochee. 

1854 

5,790 

4,902 

18.1 

Chattooga. 

1838 

12,952 

11,202 

1.5.6 

Cherokee. 

1832 

15,243 

15,412 

n.o 

Clarke. 

1801 

17,708 

15,186 

16.6 

Clay. 

1854 

8,568 

7,817 

9.6 

Clayton. 

1858 

9,598 

8,295 

15.7 

Clinch . 

1850 

8,732 

6,652 

31.2 

Cobb. 

1832 

24,664 

22,286 

10.6 

Coffee. 

1854 

16,169 

10,483 

54.2 

Colquitt. 

1856 

13,a36 

4,794 

184.4 

Columbia. 

1790 

10,653 

11,281 

15.5 

Coweta. 

1826 

24,980 

22,354 

11.7 

Crawford. 

1822 

10,368 

9,315 

11.3 

Crisp. 

1905 




Dade. 

1837 

4,578 

5,707 

H9.7 

Dawson. 

1857 

5,442 

5,612 

3.0 

Decatur. 

1823 

29,454 

19,949 

47.6 

DeKalb. 

1822 

21,112 

17,189 

22.8 

Dodge . 

1870 

13,975 

11,452 

22.0 

Dooly. 

1821 

26,567 

18,146 

46.4 

Dougherty. 

1853 

13,679 

12,206 

12.0 

Douglas. 

1870 

8,745 

7,794 

* 12.2 

Early. 

1818 

14,828 

9,792 

51.4 

Echols. 

1858 

3,209 

3,079 

4.2 

Effingham. 

1777 

8,.334 

5,599 

48.8 

Elbert. 

1790 

19,729 

. 15,376 

28.3 

Emanuel. 

1812 

21,279 

14,703 

44.7 

Fannin. 

1854 

11,214 

8,724 

28.5 


1 Decrease. 






























































188 


THE CIVIL GOVERyME^^T OF GEORGIA 


POPULATION OF THE COUNTIES {Continued.) 


Names. 

Laid 

Population.* 

Out. 

1900. 

1890. 

Gain 
per ct. 

Fayette. 

1821 

10,111 

8,728 

15.8 

Floyd. 

1832 

as, 113 

28,391 

16.6 

Forsyth. 

1832 

11,550 

11,155 

3.5 

Franklin. 

1786 

17,700 

14,670 

20.6 

Fulton. 

1853 

117,363 

84,655 

38.6 

Gilmer. 

1832 

10,198 

9,074 

12.3 

Glascock. 

1857 

4,516 

3,720 

21.3 

Glynn. 

1777 

14,317 

13,420 

6.6 

Gordon. 

1850 

14,119 

12,758 

10.6 

Grady. 

1905 




Greene. 

1786 

16,542 

17,051 

12.9 

Gwinnett. 

1818 

25,585 

19,899 

28.5 

Habersham. 

1818 

13,604 

11,573 

17.5 

Hall . 

1818 

20,752 

18,047 

14.9 

Hancock. 

1793 

18,277 

17,149 

6.5 

Haralson. 

1856 

11,922 

11,316 

5.3 

Harris . 

1829 

18,009 

16,797 

7.2 

Hart. 

1853 

14,492 

10,887 

33.1 

Heard. 

1830 

11,177 

9,557 

16.9 

Henry. 

1821 

18,602 

16,220 

14.6 

Houston. 

1882 

22,641 

21,613 

4.7 

Irwin . 

1718 

13,645 

6,316 

116.0 


fackson. 

1896 

24,039 

19,176 

25.3 


fasper. 

1712 

15,033 

13,879 

8.3 


[eft. Davis.. . 

1905 





efferson. 

1796 

18,212 

17,213 

5.8 


fenkins. 

1905 





ohnson. 

1858 

11,409 

6,129 

86.1 


[ones. 

1807 

13,358 

12,709 

5.1 


Laurens . 

1807 

25,908 

13,747 

88.4 

Lee. 

1726 

10,344 

9,074 

13.9 

Liberty . 

1777 

13,093 

12,887 

1.5 

Lincoln . 

1896 

7,156 

6,146 

16.4 

Lowndes . 

1825 

20,036 

15,102 

32.6 

Lumpkin . 

1838 

7,433 

6,867 

8.2 

McDuffie. 

1871 

9,804 

8,789 

11.5 

McIntosh . 

1793 

6,537 

6,470 

1.0 

Macon . 

1837 

14,093 

13,183 

6.9 

Madison . 

1811 

13,224 

11,024 

19.9 

Marion . 

1827 

10,080 

7,728 

30.4 

Meriwether . 

1827 

23,339 

20,740 

12.5 

Miller . 

1856 

6,319 

4 97“^ 

Al Q 

Milton . 

1857 

6,763 

1 o 
fi 90S 

4l.O 

G Q 


Mitchell. 

1857 

14,767 

^\JO 

10 QOR 

o.y 


Monroe . 

1821 

20,682 

19,137 

00.4: 

8.0 


Montgomery. . 

. 1793 

16,359 

9,248 

76.8 


Morgan. 

. 1807 

15,813 

16,041 

11.4 


Murray. 

. 1832 

8,623 

8,461 

1.9 


Muscogee. . 

, 1826 

29,8.36 

37,761 

7.4 


* Decrease. 









































































APPENDIX 


189 


POPULATION OF THE COUNTIES {Continued.) 


Names. 

Laid 

Population. 

Out. 

1900. 

1890. 

Gain 
per ct. 

Newton. 

1821 

16.734 
8,602 

17,881 

12,969 

8,641 

8,100 

18,761 

17,856 

18,489 

13,436 

4,701 

6,285 

16,847 

53.735 
7,515 
5,499 

19,252 

17,619 

14,319 

7,713 

16,951 

11,948 

8,182 

6,379 

16,300 

14,945 

16,559 

14,842 

4,471 

5,606 

15,267 

45,194 

6,813 

5,443 

14,424 

13,117 

16.9 

Oconee. 

*1875 

11.5 

Oglethorpe. 

1793 

5.4 

Paulding. 

1832 

8.5 

Pickens. 

1853 

5.6 

Pierce. 

1857 

26.9 

Pike . 

1822 

15.0 

Polk. 

1851 

19.4 

Pulaski. 

1808 

11.6 

Putnam. 

1807 • 

19.4 

Quitman. 

1858 

5.1 

Rahim. 

1819 

12.1 

Randolph. 

1828 

10.3 

Richmond. 

1777 

18.8 

Rockdale. 

1870 

10.3 

Schley . 

1857 

1.0 

Screven. 

1793 

33.4 

SnaldinP". 

1851 

34.3 

Stephens . 

1905 

Stewart. 

1830 

15,856 

26,212 

12,197 

7,912 

20,419 

9,846 

15,682 

22,107 

13,258 

7,291 

1.1 

Sumter. 

1831 

18.5 

Talbot. 

1827 

18.0 

Taliaferro. 

1825 

8.5 

Tattnall. 

1801 

10,253 

99.1 

Taylor. 

1852 

8,666 

13.6 

Telfair. 

1807 

10,083 

5,477 

84.0 

Terrell.. . 

1856 

19,023 

14,513 

.31.1 

’T'hnmaS . 

1825 

31,076 

26,154 

18.8 

Tift . 

1905 


Toombs. 

1905 




Towns. 

1856 

4,748 

4,064 

20,723 

16.8 

Troup . 

1826 

24,002 

15.8 

Turner. 

1905 


Twip'P'S . 

1809 

8,716 

8,195 

6.3 

Union. 

1832 

8,481 

7,747 

9.4 

Upson. 

1824 

13,670 

12,188 

12.1 

Walker . 

1833 

15,661 

13,282 

17.9 

Walton . 

1818 

20,942 

17,467 

19.8 

W/’aj-0 . 

1824 

13,761 

8,811 

56.1 

Warren. 

1793 

11,463 

10,957 

4.6 

\A/a ahin crton . 

1784 

28,227 

25,237 

11.8 

VV .... 

Wayne. 

1805 

9,449 

7,485 

26.2 

Webster . 

1856 

6,618 

5,695 

16.2 

White . 

1857 

5,912 

6,151 

13.8 

Whitfield . 

1851 

14,509 

12,916 

12.3 

Wilcox . 

1857 

11,097 

7,980 

39.0 

Wilkes . 

1777 

20,866 

18,081 

15.4 

Wilkinson . 

1803 

11,440 

10,781 

6.1 

Worth . 

1853 

18,664 

10,048 

85.7 

146 Counties. 


2,216,331 

1,837,353 

20.6 


1 Decrease. 




































































INDEX 


Agricultural Education, 50, 119. 
Agriculture, Department of, 72-74. 
Anne, The, 13. 

Appeals, Court of, 79, 162. 

Atlanta founded, 34. 

Atlanta made State Capital, 59, 
182. 

Attorney-general, 67, 69, 72, 167. 
Augusta founded, 15. 

Australian system of voting, 109. 

Bank bureau, 48, 71. 

Bill of Rights, 137. 

Board of Education, 112. 

Boundary of Georgia, 33-34. 

Broad River Settlements, 21-24. 

Brown, Joseph E., governor, 37-40. 
Bull, Col. William, 13. 

Bulloch, Archibald, 20, 184. 

Bullock, Rufus B., governor, 42, 43. 

Capital, State, 21, 34, 45, 55. 

Capitol, State, 45, 63. 

Candler, A. D., governor, 46, 186. 
Charter of Georgia, 12, 17. 

Cherokee Indians, 9, 32, 33. 

Child labor in factories, 48. 

Citizen, 61. 

City courts, 87. 

City government, 101. 

Civil cases at law, 126-129. 

Civil War, 38, 39. 

Clarke, John, 28. 

Cobb, Howell, 35, 36. 

Commissioner of agriculture, 72-74. 
Commissioner of pensions, 75. 
Commissioner of the poor, 94. 
Commissioners of roads and reve¬ 
nues, 86. 

Commissioners for trade and plan¬ 
tations, 18. 

Comptroller-general, 71, 134, 159. 

190 


Constable, 96. 

Constitution of Georgia, 18, 20, 39, 
40, 51-56, 137. 

Convict system, 44, 75. 

Coroner, 88. 

County, 82-94, 180, 186. 

County board of education, 114. 
County commissioners, 86. 

County court, 86. 

County debts, 84, 136, 173. 

County elections, 84, 108. 

County school commissioner, 115. 
County seat, 84. 

County surveyor, 90. 

County taxes, 85, 89, 134. 

County tax-collector, 89. 

County tax-receiver, 89. 

County treasurer, 88. 

Courts, 19, 36, 78-81, 84, 86. 
Crawford, Geo. W., governor, 35. 

Darien founded, 15. 

Dates of prominent events, 56-59. 
Debt, State, 135. 

De Soto, 9. 

D’Estaing, Count, 21. 
Disfranchisement law, 48, 141. 
Divorce, 169. 

Ebenezer, 14. 

Education, 49, 111-121, 176. 
Elections, 105-110. 

Elector, 61, 141. 

Ellis, Henry, governor, 19, 184. 
Emigrants, 13-15. 

Executive department, 67-78. 
Exemption from taxation, 133, 171. 
Expenditure of the State, 130. 

Farmers’ Alliance, 45. 

Fort Mimms massacre, 30. 
Frederica, 15, 16. 



INDEX 


191 


General Assembly, 18, 62-67. 
Georgia Educational Association, 49, 
112, note. 

Government of Georgia under the 
Trustees, 11-16. 

Government of Georgia as a Crown 
Colony, 17-20. 

Government of Georgia during the 
Revolution, 20, 21. 

Government of Georgia as a State. 

See Constitution. 

Governor, 67-69, 155, 184. 

Grand Jury, 91. 

Gwinnett, Button, 20. 

Hall, Lyman, 20. 

Heath, Sir Robert, 9. 

Highlanders, The, 14. 

Hill, Ben. H., 38. 

Homestead, 177-179. 

Indians, 9, 13, 17, 25, 29-33. 
Injunction, 128. 

Insurance, 72, 152, 153. 

Jackson, Andrew, 32. 

Jackson, Henry R., 36. 

Jackson, James, 26, 27, 185. 

Jasper, Sergeant, 21. 

Jenkins, Chas. J., governor, 40, 42. 
Johnson, Herschel V., governor, 37. 
Judicial department, 78-81, 160. 

Jury commissioners, 90. 

Jury, grand, 90, 124. 

Jury, petit, 90, 125. 

Justice of the peace, 95. 

Legal procedure, 122-129. 
Legislation, 66. 

Legislature, 18, 62-67. 

Liberty County, 20. 

Licenses, 132. 

Loans, State, 135, 136. 

Local school systems, 112, 114. 
Louisville made State Capital, 55, 
58. 

McDonald, Chas. J., governor, 34, 
185. 

Mandamus, 128. 


Mayor, 100, 102. 

Melendez, 9. 

Mexican War, 36. 

Militia, 77. 

Militia districts, 95. 

Milledge, governor, 27, 34, 118. 
Milledgeville founded, 34. 
Montgomery, Sir Robert, 9. 
Moravians, 14. 

Municipal corporations act, 100. 
Municipal finances, 103, 173. 
Municipal government, 99-104. 
Musgrove, Mary, 13, 17. 

Naval militia, 78, 157. 
Nominations, 108, 110. 

Normal instruction, 116, 117. 

North Carolinians on Broad River. 

22 . 

Northern, Wm. J., governor, 45, 46, 
Notary public, commercial, 95, note. 
Notary public, commissioned, 95. 

Oglethorpe, 10-16. 

Ordinary, 18, 84-86, 

Pardons, 68, 75, 157. 

Parker, Henry, president of the 
Colony, 17, 184. 

Party organization, 107. 

Political parties, 27-29, 37, 106. 

Poll tax, 132, 171. 

Populist party, 45, 46. 

Primaries, 108. 

Printing, State, 72, 175. 

Prison Commission, 75. 

Prohibition law, 48. 

Provincial Assembly, 17. 

Provincial Congress, 20. 

Public schools. 111. 

Pulaski, 21. 

Railroad commissioners, 44, 48, 74. 

154. . 

Real estate transfers, 87. 

Receivers, 80, 128. 

Reconstruction, 39-43. 

Recorder, 101, 102. 

Reformatory for juvenile criminals, 
48. 





192 


INDEX 


Registration, 105, 106. 
Representatives, House of, 65, 146 
seq. 

Revenue of the State, 131-133. 
Revolution in Georgia, 19-21. 
Reynolds, Capt. John, royal gov¬ 
ernor, 19. 

Ribaut, Jean, 9. 

Road commissioners, 92. 

Road overseers, 92, 94. 

Salzberger’s, The, 14. 

Savannah founded, 13. 

Savannah, siege of, 20, 21. 

School districts, 114. 

School fund, 115, 116, 176. 

Schools, public, 111-121, 176. 

Seal of Georgia, 34, 60, 160. 
Secession of Georgia, 38. 

Secretary of State, o9, .“O, 155 seq. 
Seminole Indians, 30, 31. 

Senate, 64, 65, 144 seq. 

Sheriff, 87. 

Slaves, 12, 16, 17, 24. 

Smith, Hoke, governor, 46, 47, 186. 
Solicitor-general, 80, 81, 125. 
Spaniards, 9, 15. 

State board of education, 112. 

State chemist, 73. 

State constitutions, general fea¬ 
tures, 51, 52. 

State debt, 135, 174. 

State entomologist, 73. 

State finances, 130-136. 

State militia, 77, 180. 

State officers, 69, 155. 

State rights and powers, 60, 61. 

State school commissioner, 72, 113, 
176. 

State sovereignty, 96-98. 

Southern rights party, 37. 

Stephens, Alexander H., 29, 35, 37, 
38, 45, 186. 


Stephens, Col. Wm., 16, 57, 184. 
Suits against the State, 128. 
Superior courts, 80. 

Superior court clerk, 80, 87. 
Supreme court, 36, 78, 160. 

Taxation, 131-136, 170. 

Teachers’ institutes, 116. 

Terrell, Joseph M., governor, 47. 
Toombs, Robert, 35, 39. 

Tomochichi, 13, 14. 

Towm government, 100. 

Treasurer, 70, 159. 

Treutlen, J. A., first governor, 20, 
184. 

Troup, governor, 28, 31, 32. 
Trustees of Georgia, 12, 17. 

Trustees of Georgia, colonial policy, 
17. 

Trustees of Georgia, surrender char¬ 
ter, 17. 

Union Party, 37. 

University of Georgia, 117-121, 177. 
V ETO, 67, 68. 

Virginians on Broad River, 22. 
Voting, 108, 109. 

Walton, George, 20. 

Wars, Indian, 29-33. 

Wesley, Charles, 15. 

Wesley, John, 10, 15. 

Western and Atlantic R. R., 34, 
116, 132, 174. 

Whitefield, George, 15. 

Whitney, Eli, invents cotton gin, 
24. 

Wright, James, royal governor, 19- 
21, 184. 

Yazoo land frauds, 24-27. 


THE END. 











MAR U 19^8 






























